Fifteen mainland scholars and businessmen have called for an overhaul of the one-child policy, arguing it violates the constitution's guarantee of human rights.
The group, which includes eight law professors, made the request in a letter submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Thursday.
'The current Population and Family Planning Law stresses controlling the size of the population, and a statutory approval system on family planning based on the law violates clauses on the protection of human rights contained in China's constitution,' said the letter submitted by Professor Zhan Zhongle from the Peking University Law School.
The petition argues that penalising families that have a second child with heavy fines and dismissal from work seriously violates citizens' rights to procreation.
Allowing rural families and ethnic minorities to have a second child amounted to discrimination against urban dwellers and those of Han ethnicity.
Zhan, who drafted the letter, said few people challenged the policy on the basis it violated human rights. He admitted the angle was sensitive and could irritate authorities.
'The law that was introduced 30 years ago has to be amended in light of fundamental changes in Chinese society,' Zhan said, referring to the revelation last month that a 22-year-old mother was forced to abort a seven-month-old fetus.