Beijing ( CNN ) -- Amid continued nationwide outrage , Chinese authorities issued a rare public apology Thursday to a woman who was forced to have a late-term abortion , and suspended three local officials involved in the incident . `` Since the illegal actions by some officials have seriously hurt Feng Jianmei and her family , we want to offer our deep apologies to them and to the generic public , '' said a statement released by the Ankang city government in Shaanxi Province , which administers Feng 's village . Two of the three officials suspended were in charge of local family planning . The city government promised further investigation and punishment for those found responsible . It added that a vice mayor had visited the family to deliver the message in person and offer concrete assistance . Feng , 22 , was illegally detained on May 30 in rural Shaanxi Province and coerced to undergo the procedure three days later in the seventh month of pregnancy , her husband said . `` I 'm angry and want justice , '' Deng Jiyuan told CNN over the phone earlier Thursday . `` They forced her to abort our seven-month-old child -- do they deserve to be called Communist Party officials who served the people ? '' Deng , a 29-year-old farmer , said he was trying to secure a birth permit up to the last minute but could not afford to pay the fine of 40,000 yuan ( $ 6,300 ) demanded by the officials . He added that his wife remained traumatized in hospital . The couple married in 2006 and Feng gave birth to a girl in 2007 , local officials said in a statement . Under China 's strict family planning law , which limits most married couples to only one child , Feng and Deng are ineligible to have a second child . Graphic photos taken after the abortion showing a bloody baby lying next to Feng in a hospital bed have been circulating online and shocked Chinese netizens , prompting rare domestic media coverage and public debate on one of the country 's most controversial policies . After initially insisting the operation was voluntary , local officials acknowledged Thursday that the forced abortion was illegal . Previously on CNN.com : Activists allege forced abortions , sterilizations in China . `` Such action has seriously violated relevant policies and regulations set by the state and provincial family planning authorities , harmed the image of family planning work and caused extremely negative social impact , '' said a statement released by the Shaanxi Population and Family Planning Commission . On Sina Weibo , China 's equivalent of Twitter , the case was among the top trending topics Thursday afternoon , attracting almost a million comments . Most users appear to side with the couple and condemn the officials . `` Bring the murderers to justice '' was a commonly posted demand . Deng , the husband , has opened a Weibo account , posting developments and venting frustrations . His profile picture is one of the post-abortion photos of his wife , with the baby 's image blurred , that have jolted the nation . China 's `` one child '' policy was recently thrown into the international spotlight when prominent human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escaped his house arrest and moved to New York . Chen 's supporters maintain his long-time legal advocacy for victims of forced abortions and sterilizations had led to his persecution . Since the government introduced the policy in the late 1970s to curb population growth in the world 's most populous nation , millions of women have been forced to end their `` illegal pregnancies . '' The number of `` family planning abortions '' peaked in 1983 with 14.37 million operations performed that year , according to the Health Ministry . Since 2000 , such abortions have numbered about 7 million a year -- with a spike in 2008 to 9.17 million cases . The latest news on Feng has again rallied critics of Beijing 's family planning policy . `` No legitimate government would commit or tolerate such an act , '' said Reggie Littlejohn , president of Women 's Rights Without Frontiers , a California-based group that aims to stop forced abortions in China . `` We call on the United States government and leaders of the free world to strongly condemn forced abortion and all coercive family planning in China . '' Record crowds attend Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil . China hits back on U.S. human rights .
The couple has one child and is not allowed to have another . China 's family planning law , which limits most married couples to only one child . The couple says they were forced to have a late term abortion . `` I 'm angry and want justice , '' husband says .