Vatican City, May 25, 2019 / 05:25 am
Pope Francis said Saturday that abortion is never the answer to difficult prenatal diagnoses, calling selective abortion of the disabled the "expression of an inhuman eugenics mentality."
"Fear and hostility towards disability often lead to the choice of abortion, configuring it as a practice of 'prevention,'" Pope Francis said May 25.
"But the Church's teaching on this point is clear: human life is sacred and inviolable and the use of prenatal diagnosis for selective purposes must be strongly discouraged because it is the expression of an inhuman eugenics mentality, which removes the possibility for families to accept, embrace and love their weakest children," he said.
The pope addressed a Vatican conference on perinatal hospice highlighting medical care and ministries that support families who have received a prenatal diagnosis indicating that their baby will likely die before or just after birth.