Christian Democrats Norway debate yes and no to abortion

The youth party leader Hadle Bjuland proposed early September to accept free abortion until the 12th week, as is the current abortion legislation in Norway. At the same time, the party should actively resist extending the limit. Until now, the Christian Democratic party KrF has always been against abortion, although there were growing nuances.

"I don't think that changing the abortion law will cause the number of abortions to decrease", said Bjuland, according to the Christian daily Dagen. He thinks there is "no good alternative" for the present law.

In a clarification a few days later, Mr Bjuland wrote that he is still against abortion because human life is to be protected from conception. His only objection to the idea of changing the law was that legislation was not the right instrument to get the numbers down. "We must fight abortions with other means than tightening the rules."

Replace current law

The Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF) was founded in 1933 and has been part of government coalitions several times. The party is working to "replace the current abortion law with a law which assumes that the fetus has human dignity", according to Vart Land. From that position, the party thinks that the unborn child has the right on protection. Terminating a pregnancy should be limited to exceptional cases.

In Norway, abortion is legal until 12 weeks. That is the same as in many European countries. In Norway there is, as in other countries, continuous debate whether the week limit should be prolonged, for instance, until 18 weeks, as is the case in Sweden.

"On the side of the unborn"

The issue sparks debate even within the youth party itself. The deputy chairman, Joel Ystebø, said to Vart Land that the KrFU is the "last youth party" in Norway that is "on the side of the unborn child", he said. A change “will be a loss both for KrFU and Norwegian politics."

Within the KrFU, there are more nuanced perspectives as well. For instance, the second deputy chairman, Hilde Gunvaldsen, says that the situation in Norway is different from the 70s. "Now it is about preventing an extension to week 18 or 22", she says. In such a debate about an extension, the present 12 weeks is the status quo that must be defended.

The former MP for the party, Jorunn Gleditsch Lossius, says that Bjuland touches "the very DNA" of the party. "The KrF is the only party that says loud and clear from the floor of the Storting (parliament, ed.) that abortion will always be about two lives. And we shall continue with that", she wrote in Dagen. "This implies that we should strengthen the legal protection of the fetus, not weaken it. It is entirely appropriate to say, as KrF has enshrined in its programme, that we want to replace the current abortion law with a law which assumes that the fetus has independent human dignity. This law is adapted to developments in medical technology."

As the Christian People's Party, the KrF has been at the centre of the Christian community in Norway. The secretary general of the pro-life organisation Menneskeverd, Morten Dahle Stærk, responded somehow disappointed to Bjuland's proposal. He spoke about a "pragmatic turnaround". If Bjuland indeed thinks the same as earlier, he should "draw the natural conclusion, which is that the fetus must have legal protection from the moment of its conception", Stærk says.

KrF has been anchor

Private party members are responding as well. For instance, Fred Andersen, retired General Practitioner. He describes his journey with the self-determination debate and the first abortion law in 1978. "In this and several other cases, KrF has been an anchor and support for many of us who have worked for human dignity in the light of God's word. So can we risk that going towards the end of the road?" he asks in Dagen.

Another senior party member, Bjarne Gjerme, fears the KrF will lose its culture-critical position. "It is crucially important that there is a political party in Norway that stands up for the smallest and most vulnerable", he writes in Dagen.

He sees that a new ideology is coming to the forefront. "The way this is done is reminiscent of an ideology that emerged in the 1930s in Germany. There is a march with banners, slogans and slogans, and almost no one dares to protest. Opinions must be aligned."

Gjerme thinks that "someone must dare to shout that the emperor is naked", he writes. "If KrF dares to stand on its former Christian values, one must expect opposition and incitement. But if there is something society now needs, there is a critical debate about this. And the attention the party then receives will make the party relevant to large groups of voters."

Accepting status quo

Christian Democratic parties differ in their approach to the termination laws. Most of them have a pro-life root. But many are moving towards accepting the status quo as it is.

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Recently, the abortion issue has been debated in the Swedish Christian Democratic party KD. During the recent election campaign, the party officially accepted the "woman's right to decide for herself whether to undergo an abortion until the 18th week of the pregnancy."

Also, in the Norwegian KrF, there have been continuous debates about abortion over the decades. Berit Aalborg, political editor of Vart Land, writes that from the late 80s, there has been a gap between the formal party books and the ideals the party's representatives have. She thinks that within the party, there is "broad agreement" that both the fetus and the mother have rights. "But there is disagreement about what are the best political instruments."