Pope Francis has suggested women threatened with the Zika virus could use artificial contraception, saying "avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil" in light of the global epidemic.
The pope unequivocally rejected abortion as a response to the crisis in remarks as he flew home after a five-day trip to Mexico.
But he drew a
parallel to a decision by Pope Paul VI in the 1960s to approve giving nuns in
Belgian Congo artificial contraception to prevent pregnancies because they were
being systematically raped.
Abortion "is
an evil in and of itself, but it is not a religious evil at its root, no? It's
a human evil," Francis told reporters. "On the other hand, avoiding
pregnancy is not an absolute evil. In certain cases, as in this one (Zika),
such as the one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear."
Francis was responding
to a reporter's question about whether abortion or birth control could be
considered a "lesser evil" when confronting the Zika crisis in
Brazil, where there has been a spike in babies born with abnormally small heads
to Zika-infected mothers.
The World Health
Organization has declared a worldwide health emergency over the Zika virus and
its suspected link to birth defects. On Thursday, the U.N. agency advised the
sexual partners of pregnant women to use condoms or abstain from sex if they
live in or have visited Zika-affected areas, echoing a recommendation made by
U.S. health officials. The virus has been reported in at least 34 countries,
most of them in overwhelmingly Catholic Latin America and the Caribbean, where
access to birth control is often limited and abortion is heavily restricted.
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