Vatican City, Apr 1, 2019 / 10:02 am
Pope Francis said Sunday that abortion is not a lawful way to solve problems, even in extreme and desperate situations, and that awareness of the need to help women in difficult pregancies is on the rise.
During a March 31 Spanish television interview, Pope Francis was asked about the permissibility of abortion in an extreme case: a woman who has been trafficked and becomes pregnant by rape. He said he could understand the desperation the woman in such a scenario might feel, but that "it is not lawful to eliminate a human life to solve a problem."
"Is it permissible to eliminate a human life to solve a problem? Is it permissible to hire someone to eliminate [the child]?" the pope asked back at the interviewer, who declined to comment.
Francis said that women in crisis pregnancies should not be left "on the street," but "thanks to God," there is an increased awareness in the last decades of the need to help women in difficult situations. "A whole work of accompaniment, of giving dignity, has been unfolded," he said.