OSLO, January 24, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Norwegian pro-life newspaper Dagen, successfully challenged the government on numbers of deaths caused by ‘unsafe’ abortions in developing countries. In an attempt to justify funding for overseas abortions, Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, minister of culture and church and the leader of the Christian People’s Party (Kristelig Folkeparti or KrF) said, “Each year 800,000 women die in developing countries because abortions are not performed in a medically proper way.”
Norwegian reporter Jostein Sandsmark consulted with international pro-life organizations to determine the veracity of the Minister’s claims. Hillary White, director of research for Campaign Life Coalition Toronto, told Sandsmark the Norwegian figure compared with the U.S. pro-abortion lie that before Roe V. Wade, “hundreds of thousands” of women died each year from back street abortions. “The Norwegian number is, by the way, the biggest number claim I have seen so far. It is very likely not just an exaggerated statistic, but an outright lie,” said White.
After being confronted with the fact that the figure was 11.5 times higher than those of the pro-abortion group UNFPA and 130 times higher that the estimate of American Life League, Haugland investigated the matter.
Dagen reports that the Minister says her number was caused by a “misprint”. Haughland said, “There was one zero too much. I am sorry. The right figure is 80,000.” Even this figure is questioned by White who wonders where the numbers come from. Haughland nevertheless stands by the funding of abortion in the developing world, regardless of facts.