Clinton struggles to produce evidence to confirm Brazilian abortion story

Washington D.C., May 12, 2009 / 22:41 pm

Last month Secretary of State Hilary Clinton told Congress that half of the women she had seen in Brazilian hospitals "were fighting for their lives against botched abortions." After her comments she was asked to produce evidence as to when she had visited the hospitals or statistics to back her claim, but neither she nor her staffers have been able to produce any evidence.

Clinton, who last year falsely claimed that she had been involved in a sniper attack as First Lady when she visited Bosnia, is now making another claim: half the women in Brazilian hospitals are "fighting for their lives against botched abortions."

After video tapes showed that Clinton was not actually under sniper fire when she was in Bosnia, she said she had a "different memory of the event." Later she said, "So I made a mistake. That happens. It proves I'm human, which, you know, for some people, is a revelation."

The National Catholic Register contacted Department of State spokeswoman Laura Tischler to see if there was any record of Clinton’s trip to Brazilian hospitals. Tischler said, "I am unable to confirm where or when the trip she referred to in her testimony was — where specifically in Brazil she was visiting or when the trip occurred."

Representative Chris Smith, who asked the question that prompted Clinton’s response, remarked, "Pro-abortion activists have a long history of making these type of unsubstantiated claims. That’s how they drive policy — with gross exaggeration of numbers, hyperbole and junk science," according to the NCR.

Smith also said that this approach of exaggerating numbers and using "junk science" was how former abortionist and founding member of NARAL, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, attempted to influence public policy. Nathanson once said that 10,000 women were dying in the United States because of botched abortions, but later after his conversion to Catholicism, said that he and other pro-abortionists exaggerated those claims and the number was closer to 200-250 women annually.

Nathanson said their tactic was simple: "Repeating the big lie often enough convinces the public."

It is unclear if Clinton plans a retraction of her statement after evidence has failed to surface.

Her comments can be viewed on Youtube.com at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH9rC0MaBJc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncregister.com%2Fdaily%2Fhillarys_hospitalgate&feature=player_embedded