The Vatican opposed the calls for a relaxation of abortion laws in response to the Zika virus outbreak, a mosquito-borne disease that can cause serious brain defects in unborn babies. The Church said that terminating pregnancies would be the confirmation of a failure of the international community to contain the disease.
The Guardian reported that Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Holy See representative to the United Nations (UN), announced Vatican's opposition to the statements of some international leaders who have called for broaden access to legal abortion as a solution to the disease. The Vatican announcement was made during the launch of a World Health Organization campaign that tackles the spread of the Zika crisis.
"Not only is increased access to abortion and abortifacients [abortion-inducing drugs] an illegitimate response to this crisis, but since it terminates the life of a child it is fundamentally not preventative," Auza stated. "It must be emphasized that a diagnosis of microcephaly in a child should not warrant a death sentence."
"Regardless of the connection to the Zika virus, it is a fact of human existence that some children develop conditions like microcephaly, and that these children deserve to be protected and cared for throughout their lives, in accordance with our obligation to safeguard all human life, healthy and disabled, with equal commitment, leaving no one behind," Auza affirmed. He added that permitting pregnant women exposed to the Zika virus to have abortions would confirm the failure of the international community to solve the epidemic.
There are over 4,000 babies who have been born with microcephaly, a condition that gives them unusual small head size and often results to serious neurological and developmental problems. International bodies, including the United Nations, have called for efforts to promote contraception and a relaxation of abortion bans as response to the disease.
Moreover, according to Yahoo News, a statement of Pope Francis last Thursday appeared to suggest that the Church could soften its contraception stance. "Avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil," the pope said, citing that Pope Paul VI allowed nuns in Africa to use birth control pills decades ago because of the risks of being raped in political conflicts.
The pope however made it clear that the Church will not change its stand about abortion. "It is a crime. It is an absolute evil," he said.
