The U.S. 9th circuit Court of appeals in San Francisco found August 22 for Ms. Xuan Wang who applied for asylum because she had two forced abortions. In a 3-0 decision, the Court reversed a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals denying asylum to Xuan Wang of Montebello. A 1996 federal law "provides that forced abortions are per se persecution and trigger asylum eligibility," Judge Betty B. Fletcher wrote. The law grants refugee status to 1,000 people a year if they can prove that their country forced population control on them. (Source: Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2003).