- Jørgen Kristiansen posted photo of 12-week-old foetus on Facebook
- Image shows 5.5cm figure with fingers and toes being held in a hand
- Norway’s government currently discussing plans for abortion referrals
- Doctors may be able to refuse to refer patients if ethically opposed
- Mayor condemned for posting ‘anti-abortion propoganda’ that is ‘a lie’
- Under Norwegian law, women can obtain termination up to 18 weeks
PUBLISHED: 12:25 EST, 4 February 2014
A Christian mayor has sparked outrage after posting a photo of a fake 12-week-old foetus on Facebook.
Jørgen Kristiansen, deputy mayor of Kristiansand, put up the image in a bid to display his views on abortion.
It shows the 5.5cm foetus – featuring fingers, toes and ears – being held in the palm of a hand.
‘This is what a 12-week-old foetus looks like,’ Mr Kristiansen wrote under the photo, according to The Local.
The image has inflamed Norway’s abortion debate – with the government currently discussing plans to allow doctors to refuse to refer patients for an abortion if they are ethically opposed to the act.
Their refusal may be based on either religious or other grounds.
The discussion is part of a deal to try to win the support of the Christian Democrat party, as agreed by Norway’s two-party coalition last September.
Today, Marie Simonsen, political editor of Norway’s Dagbladet newspaper, said the photo posted by Mr Kristiansen did not truly represent a 12-week-old foetus.
‘This is a doll and a dishonest way to debate this matter,’ she told the news site.
‘It is shocking that a senior member of the Christian Democrats is posting anti-abortion propaganda which he must know is a lie.’
However, Mr Kristiansen has defended the photo – claiming it shows ‘everything a child has when it is 12-weeks-old’.
Nearly 90 per cent of Norwegian mayors would vote against doctors being given the right to refuse to refer patients for abortion, according to a survey carried out by the country’s Verdens Gang newspaper.
An overwhelming 165 out of 187 mayors said women who eligible for a termination by law should not be declined by medics who are acting on religious or other grounds.
Under Norwegian law, patients can have an abortion on demand up to 12 weeks, by application up to 18 weeks and only under special circumstances thereafter.
This is in contrast to British law, which enables women to obtain a termination up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551660/Christian-mayor-inflames-Norway-abortion-debate-posting-picture-fake-12-week-foetus-palm-hand.html#ixzz2sSYuQYNq Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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It actually is what a 12 week fetus looks like - fetal development month by month: http://www.webmd.com/baby/ss/slideshow-fetal-development
The more people see that a 12 week old fetus isn’t a ‘clump of cells”, like they’ve been told in the past, the more they become prolife.
