China's one-child policy led to harsh measures like forced abortions and sterilizations BEIJING -- China's one-child policy, one of the harshest attempts at population control the world has seen, forced abortions on women, made sterilization widespread and led to baby daughters being sold or even killed, because parents wanted their only child to be a male.

BEIJING (AP) -- China's one-child policy, one of the harshest attempts at population control the world has seen, forced abortions on women, made sterilization widespread and led to baby daughters being sold or even killed, because parents wanted their only child to be a male.

BEIJING (AP) -- China's one-child policy, one of the harshest attempts at population control the world has seen, forced abortions on women, made sterilization widespread and led to baby daughters being sold or even killed, because parents wanted their only child to be a male.

The Chinese government on Monday released its latest round of dismal demographic data, revealing birth rates have hit their lowest level since the Communist revolution of 1949, and the population is still declining despite years of expensive efforts to convince more couples to have children.