(ABC News Australia) Pope Francis has denounced abortion as the "white glove" equivalent of the Nazi-era eugenics program and urged families to accept the children that God gives them.
Pope Francis spoke off-the-cuff to a meeting of an Italian family association.
The Vatican didn't immediately provide a transcript of his remarks, but the ANSA news agency and the SIR agency of the Italian bishops' conference quoted him as denouncing the pre-natal tests that can result in parents choosing to terminate a pregnancy if the foetus is malformed or suffering other problems.
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"Last century, the whole world was scandalised by what the Nazis did to purify the race," the agencies quoted Francis as saying.