Beijing contends that instances of forced procedures are rare, but several reports suggest otherwise. For instance, the documents instances of women being taken from bed late at night and brought to 24-hour sterilization clinics, newborns being killed while still partly in the womb, and IUDs being inserted without a woman's knowledge immediately after she gives birth. Rather than holding accountable the local officials who violate women's rights, the government promotes them. The Patriotic Association offers no respite from the government's relentless birth policies. When Catholic belief in the sanctity of life collides with the government's aggressive push for a reduced birth rate, there is no debate.
Government policy wins, hands down.
Increased harassment Roman Catholics in China suffer intensely from multiple forms of repression, and the government's stepped-up campaign will only make matters worse for both clergy and laity. The government has stated its first targets will be rural farming areas, which include the resistant pockets where most Roman Catholics and other Christian minorities live. The Puebla Institute has documented the cases of 170 Chinese Christian clergy and lay leaders, including 21 Roman Catholic bishops, who are currently imprisoned, detained, or under constant harassment and surveillance. Among them is Father Joseph Jin Dechen, vicar general of the Nanyang diocese in Henan Province. He was paroled in 1992, but since the day of his release he has been confined to his home village.