Batman Actor Christian Bale Takes a Stand Against Forced Abortions
Actor Christian Bale, who played Batman in the Dark Knight movies, is taking a strong stand last week against the “horror” of China’s forced abortion policies.
Bale also praised Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng for his activities against China’s one child policy.
“He [Chen] had exposed a program of forced abortion and sterilization in Shandong,” Bale told attendees at a Human Rights First event. “A program of forced abortion means that women are being dragged from their homes against their will. They are being forced to have abortions, sometimes late-term—imagine that—with some women reportedly dying in the process.”
“This is true horror,” he added. “And, in this insane world, this man, Chen, who was helping these women—who was living by some of the most simple, brave and universally admired values—values we teach our children every day, and helping our fellow man—for this, this man was imprisoned and beaten for over four years.”
In December, 2011, when Chen was in China under house arrest, Bale tried to visit Chen in December 2011 when Chen was under house arrest, but he was attacked by thugs, which prevented him from visiting.
“What I really wanted to do was shake the man’s hand and say ‘thank you,’ and tell him what an inspiration he is,” Bale said then.
Bale played Batman in the last three Batman movies, including Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Dicky Eklund in The Fighter.
“What Christian and Chen are doing here is truly heroic,” says Ted Baehr, publisher and founder of Movieguide: The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment. “We applaud them both in the strongest terms.”
“Christian Bale has become a human rights champion in his own right,” says Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers. “He risked his safety to visit Chen last December. His attack by Chinese thugs brought visibility to Chen’s case. This visibility greatly helped the international effort to free Chen. And, Bale is brave to condemn the practice of forced abortion in China.”
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