in august 2012, family planning officials and local authorities picked up her mother xu li, detained her for 30 hours and gave her a choice -- abort the fetus in her sixth month of pregnancy or pay a fine of about 35,000 euros. >> they were inhumane. they were so cruel and so horrible to me. i begged them to let me go. i promised to pay a fine after the birth. they said that was impossible and that they'd force me to have an abortion. >> xu li and her husband borrowed money -- about 12,000 euros. in the end, xu li was freed and yichen was born, but many other chinese families have suffered a worse fate. >> it's incredible that something like this can still happen in the 21st century. >> a propaganda video. its message -- there are too many chinese. in 1979, china launched its one-child policy, hoping to prevent famine and accelerate economic growth. there were exemptions for ethnic minorities, for instance. but violating the law often meant merciless intervention. >> punishing violations of the one-child policy with fines isn't enough. we need a law that allows abortions. if other me