Pope Francis over the weekend compared abortion to hiring a hitman to kill a child and said that regardless of whatever medical concerns may arise during prenatal testing, a human being is “never incompatible with life.”
“Is it licit to throw away a life to resolve a problem?” he asked during a pro-life conference sponsored by the Vatican on Saturday, AP and Fox News reported. “Is it licit to hire a hitman to resolve a problem?”
Francis described decisions based on prenatal prognoses about the likelihood of a fetus to live outside of the womb as “inhuman eugenics” and said that doing so should be “discouraged with strength.”
“Human life is sacred and inviolable and the use of prenatal diagnosis for selective purposes should be discouraged with strength,” he said.
Francis said that even if a fetus is expected to die at birth or soon thereafter, doctors should provide medical care. He reasoned that this would help parents feel supported and better able to grieve.
“Taking care of these children helps parents to grieve and not only think of it as a loss, but as a step on a path taken together,” said the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
This comes amid a contentious debate over recent laws passed by states banning abortions at six or eight weeks of pregnancy.
Pope Francis has expressed sympathy toward women who have had abortions and had made it easier for them to seek absolution.
He reasoned at the conference that his position on abortions has everything to do with the sacredness of human life and "nothing to do" with faith.
"Do not blame religion for something that concerns the human. It is not lawful," he said.