A twenty year old girl in China, named Li Xue, has never
been to school a day in her life. She has also never legally had access to
healthcare. How is this possible? According to an article for CNN, it is
because she is a second child. China has had a one child policy in place for
three decades that allows for every family to have one child. This policy is
said to have helped curb china’s population. An exception to the one child rule
is that in rural areas a second child can be had if the parents then pay a
fine. Li’s parents could not afford the fine and in return they were not given
the legal household registration documents that would allow Li access to public
health care, subsidized housing, and education. The family is now petitioning
for a hearing to get Li’s documents.
Human Rights are meant to be universal. No one person should
be left without what should be a basic guarantee. Li Xue has not been afforded
many rights, that according to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights,
she should have been granted since birth. First and foremost, “Everyone has the
right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law” and since she was
not given her documentation she was not recognized for healthcare and when she
fell ill she had falsely use either her mother or sister’s documentation to be
considered a citizen to receive aid. By not having her documentation she was
not allowed to receive healthcare or education, both rights as defined by the
declaration. Basically as a second child
she is barely considered a person and without her documentation isn’t at all in
the eyes of her community. Her birth order is an ascribed status; she did not
actively work for it, so why is she being punished? A one child rule seems
extreme from the viewpoint of someone from an electoral democracy, like America
where the rights of individuals are held sacred. At what point in a population
crisis is it ok for a government to step in and say what individuals are
allowed to do or not? According to Hans Rosling, providing education is a huge
factor in controlling populations, as it will keep women in school longer thus
delaying the need for a family. So how does a keeping second child, like Li,
from education keep them from repeating the same thing as their parents and
having multiple children? Ultimately this article brings forth more questions
than it does answers. It begs to question China’s population control techniques
and from there it questions human rights to the core. Whether or not this
girl’s birth went against policy, she is still a human being and as such should
be granted access to these basic rights. To not allow her these rights draws an
arbitrary line of who is granted these rights and when it is ok to strip
someone of them instead of the intention of a human right being a right
afforded to all.
:Nicole Egna
8:30 am
11/15/2013
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