One Child, Too Many? (china's one Child Policy)

One Child, Too Many?

For many years people have been going back and forth with the issue of China's overpopulation. China's massive increase in population is credited to Mao Zedong. Mao believed that, "Even if China's population multiplies many times, she is fully capable of finding a solution; the solution is production." China's government condemned birth control and banned imports of contraceptives. As result, China became extremely overpopulated. In attempt to delay the continuation of overpopulation, the one child policy was introduced and enforced in 1979. The one child policy is a law practiced in China prohibiting the reproduction of more than one child due to overpopulation issues (Fitzpatrick). The one child policy is still enforced in China today, but it is not as strict as it was in the 1970s. In the rural areas of China one is more likely to see two to three children per couple. "In many cases the so-called one-child policy can be best stated today as 'One is best, two at most, but never a third' " (Issues). I think that the people of China should be able to decide for themselves upon their personal choices pertaining to their family.

When the one child policy was put into action, this called for many abortions and sterilizations. Also, if a couple were to exceed the one child limit they could be fined thousands of dollars (Fitzpatrick). During the time of the establishment of the one child policy many of the Chinese believed that a male offspring was much more useful than a female offspring. "For centuries, Chinese families without sons feared poverty and neglect. The male offspring represented continuity of lineage and protection in old age" (Baculinao). Most of the time the females were either given away for adoption or killed. The males, however, were kept to work and serve in the military. Because of this, the overpopulation of the Chinese was not the only problem. China also faced a problem of a massive gender imbalance where the male was greatly exceeding the female. The ratio today is approximately 120 males for every 100 females.

There are great masses of people who would oppose China's one child policy for various reasons. Some feel that the one child policy is unethical and morally wrong due to the fact that abortion is a forced action. Also, the government should not be able to make personal decisions for couples such as, how many children they are limited to have. "To most Westerners, it's incomprehensible that a government could legislate how many children a family can have--something most consider a fundamental human right" (One Child Policy). Research shows that up to 3 million babies are hidden from the government every year. No mother should have to go through labor only to hide her child. Also, many parents disagree with the one child policy because they would prefer that their child not grow up alone.

With the many people that oppose the one child policy, also come the many who support it and all that it stands for. Some believe it to be a beneficial policy for China, considering how it is the most populous country in the world. "Today, China's population