These squads drag offenders into custody and detain them until they submit to an abortion, even if they re eight to nine months pregnant. Gao Xio Duan, a former population-control official who fled to America three years ago, spoke out about the methods used to terminate illegal pregnancies. Describing herself as a monster , she told a U.S. Congressional committee how she had helped doctors inject lethal formaldehyde into babies skulls during forced abortions. I saw how the baby s lips were sucking and how its limbs were stretching, she said of one such instance. Then the doctor injected the poison into its head, and the child died and was thrown in the trash.
Some pregnant women try to avoid capture by going into hiding.
But often, they return after the birth to find their homes burned to the ground and their other family members beaten or persecuted. In an extreme case last year, a man in Changsha, a Hunan province, died after being tortured for refusing to reveal the whereabouts of his pregnant wife. Children born this way are denied schooling, medical care, and other social benefits. Many peasants believe only sons can carry on the family line. They think it greatly dishonors their ancestors if they don t produce a male heir, says outreach worker Wu Hongli.