Family compensated for forced abortion, case "settled"

The family of a young Chinese woman forced to have a late-term abortion has agreed to settle the case out of court after local government offered a compensation of about 70,000 yuan (11,023 U.S. dollars), officials said Wednesday.

Feng Jianmei and her husband Deng Jiyuan signed an agreement with the township government of Zenjia, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, late Tuesday to close the case, township officials told Xinhua.

Beijing-based lawyer Zhang Kai, who represents the Deng family, told Xinhua that as the agreement was signed, the family dropped a lawsuit seeking state compensation in court.

"The signing of the agreement means neither party should raise any question related to the issue again," said an official who declined to be named. "The money has been paid."

Zhang said Deng sought legal support from him on June 28 but on Monday said he wanted to settle the case outside the courtroom with the government after visiting his sick mother in Nanjing.

The official said the government is committed to provide needed support to Deng's family in future should they encounter difficulties in life and at work. The government will also provide assistance to medical treatment of Deng's mother, the official added.

Feng, 23, was forced to abort her baby seven months into her pregnancy at a local hospital on June 2 as the family refused to pay 40,000 yuan demanded by local family planning officials as guarantee for clearing the legal ground for her to have a second child.

The ordeal of the family sparked controversy and a government probe later found that the guarantee claim was illegal and officials had violated a ban stipulated in national and provincial family planning rules on late pregnancy abortion.