Experts: Change China's one-child policy

BEIJING, June 27 (UPI) -- Chinese experts have called for changes to the one-child policy to avoid forced abortions and give couples more control over reproductive decisions.

About 30 people attended a conference Sunday organized by Peking University in Beijing, Global Times reported.

"We're working on a letter to the National People's Congress suggesting changes be made in the current population and family planning laws," said Li Jianxin, a sociologist at Peking University.

Under current policy, most couples are limited to a single child. The government is considering changes such as allowing couples to have a second child if both mother and father are only children themselves.

In one recent case, a woman in Angkang, Shaanxi Province was forced to have an abortion when she was seven months pregnant. The local government recently announced that several officials involved in the scandal are being ousted, the report said.

Some of the experts at the meeting suggested the government should adopt policies that encourage small families, instead of using coercion.

"Residents should be the ones to decide how many children they want, not the government," Liang Zhongtang, a former member of the expert committee of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, told the Times after the Beijing conference.