SHANGHAI - Three family planning officials in northwest China were suspended this week following a public outcry over reports that they had forced a young woman to undergo an abortion seven months into her pregnancy, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

The suspensions, ordered Thursday, came just days after graphic photographic images were posted on the Internet, showing a 23-year-old woman named Feng Jianmei lying on a hospital bed with the remains of her dead baby girl, soaked in blood. The story received widespread attention online and a few days ago was the most popular topic on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.