Only time will tell if international pressure on China to halt its forced abortion policy worked.
In the aftermath of international uproar over a picture of a forced abortion victim with her aborted late-term baby lying next to her (see earlier story), China's Population and Family Planning Commission has issued instructions to halt forced abortions.
Kat Lewis of All Girls Allowed says it "remains to be seen" whether the order has any teeth to it.
"It's a huge step in that before, when people have complained about forced abortion, they've just said that forced abortions don't happen or that they're illegal, but they haven't actually backed it up with any concrete action," Lewis notes. "So, issuing a directive to all the local offices is a pretty significant step."
Families still must pay a fine for a birth permit for a second child, and that is usually too substantial to afford. Couples are also threatened with losing their jobs.
"In the last month, two professors lost their jobs at a university because they had a second child," Lewis reports. "That also inhibits people's ability to have a second child if they're threatened with both the huge fine and then the loss of their income."
Lewis was encouraged to hear the global outcry over the forced abortion policy, and she believes the public will continue to show concern about the issue.
All Girls Allowed also works to encourage parents to have female children, who are often aborted or abandoned.