Brasilia, Brazil, Sep 23, 2010 / 15:53 pm
Father Berardo Graz, the coordinator of the Brazilian bishops’ Defense of Life Committee, recorded a video message this week criticizing the country's government for claiming that legalizing abortion will prevent thousands of maternal deaths.
Father Graz denied claims by the current government officials that the leading cause of maternal deaths in Brazil is illegal abortion. The priest explained that roughly 400,000 women die in Brazil each year, with 1,500 due to pregnancy complications.
Of these 1,500, he continued, “only 200 die from abortions.”
“And that’s without specifying the circumstances of the abortion, because among these 200, some women die from miscarriage” or complications such as ectopic pregnancies. “The truth is that the victims of illegal abortion are 100 or less,” the priest said.