All Girls Allowed Organization

So I generally try to steer clear of politics and such on my blog/social networking sites, but this story really spoke to me. While reading this month's Glamour mag (see, I keep telling people it has great things in it!), I came across an editorial about women in China being forced into abortion. As we all know, the overpopulation in China is rampant and a huge issue. Each family is "allowed" to have one child...and that's it. While that may not seem like a big problem in a country like ours, where we can find cheap methods of birth control, we also know about the extreme poverty most Chinese live in. Wealthier families can pay a fee to skirt the law and have another child. Many a times, this will lead to gendercide, where female fetuses are aborted in the hopes of birthing a male child in the future. Orphanages are overrun with female children, or they are trafficked as child brides or slaves.

The story that really tugged at my heartstrings was about a mother in Xianyou County. Her and her husband had managed to save up the money for the fee to have their second child, when, all of a sudden, they revoked her agreement. She either had to abort her pregnancy or they would destroy their home. She was 8 months pregnant. Knowing she could not allow her family to become destitute, she made the difficult decision to end the pregnancy, even saying she could "clearly feel her baby was struggling" (Horrifying!).

Even before I finished reading the article, I wondered what I could do. There had to be somewhere we could donate money or supplies, or someone we can write to force a change in what is so clearly a violation in womens rights. More than 13 million abortions take place in China every year, a staggering number that is up 44% from 2003.

Here at the All Girls Allowed website, they have a great section for different ways you can Mobilize for change. You can sign a petition that will be presented to Congress. You can even print out and sign your pledge, then take a picture of yourself with it and email it to the site. You can print out cute milk cartons with information about the organization and collect change. For those with a bit more to spare, you can donate $20 a month that will be given to a Chinese field worker to help provide for their baby (and you get updates on the baby's growth and development). Then they have specific things that different professionals and groups can do to help the cause.

I've already signed the online petition (and just as soon as my printer is working I will print it out and send my picture in and post it here1). I think I will try to showcase a different charity every once in awhile (maybe 2 a month?), and while it may be a bit biased because they will be causes that I am interested in, it is still nice to get those out there.