Pope Francis on Saturday called having an abortion after pre-natal tests discover birth defects a version of Nazi attempts to create a pure race.<\/b>
\nVATICAN CITY, June 16 (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Saturday called the practice of having an abortion after prenatal tests have discovered possible birth defects a version of Nazi attempts to create a pure race by eliminating the weakest.
Francis made the comparison in a long, off-the-cuff address to members of a confederation of Italian family associations.
\u00ab\u00a0Children should be accepted as they come, as God sends them, as God allows, even if at times they are sick,\u00a0\u00bb he said.
RELATED: Pope Francis invites the poor to lunch following mass
Francis then spoke of pre-natal tests to determine if a fetus has any illnesses or malformations.
\u00ab\u00a0The first proposal, in that case, is ‘Should we get rid of it’? The killing of children. And to have a more tranquil life, an innocent is done away with,\u00a0\u00bb he said.
\u00ab\u00a0I say it with pain. In the last century, the whole world was scandalized by what the Nazis did to pursue the pureness of the race. Today, we are doing the same thing, with white gloves.\u00a0\u00bb
Under Nazi eugenics programs, hundreds of thousands of people were forcibly sterilized and tens of thousands killed in an attempt to \u00ab\u00a0clean\u00a0\u00bb the chain of heredity of those with physical or cognitive disabilities.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella Editing by Catherine Evans)<\/p>\n

\n

Similarity rank: 16<\/div>\n

Sentiment rank: 1.1<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

TW posts: 31<\/div>\n

TW reposts: 52<\/div>\n

TW likes: 85<\/div>\n

TW sentiment: 0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n