Los Angeles Times
Tracy Wilkinson
After ending a dramatic tour of Mexico, Pope Francis on Thursday seemed to open the door for limited use of artificial contraception, long prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church, to prevent pregnancies at risk from the disastrous, fast-spreading Zika virus.
Speaking to reporters aboard his flight from Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez to Rome, Francis was asked if a “lesser evil” — abortion or contraception — could be permitted to prevent the disease from harming a fetus. Researchers believe Zika may be linked to serious birth defects, such as debilitating under-formation of the brain, and hundreds of cases have been reported in Latin America.
Under no circumstances, Francis said, should abortion be considered a “lesser evil,” and he said the procedure should be avoided at all cost. “It is a crime, [killing] one person to save another,” he said. “That is something that the Mafia does … an absolute evil.”
However, preventing a pregnancy that was in danger of being exposed to Zika might be allowable, he said, but only if it would most certainly prevent a pregnancy at risk.
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