Beijing warned local officials that overly strict enforcement of the country’s one-child policy risked damaging the “image of the party and the nation,” following an outcry over online pictures of a woman forced into a late-term abortion, Financial Times reported. “Even the slightest misstep in this work can lead to negative effects, damaging the image of the [Communist] party and the nation . . . We must prevent the cruel enforcement of laws,” China’s family planning commission said in a state ment to local officials. The statement came after Feng Jianmei, a 23-year-old woman in the north-central province of Shaanxi, was coerced into an abortion of her seven-month-old fetus by local officials. Her husband posted pictures of the fetus online, generating widespread outrage and condemnation. “It’s unusual that media has been able to report [on the one-child policy] this year,” said He Yafu, a Chinese demographic expert. “I think it’s a sign that the central government is changing its attitudes.”