Pope compares abortion to hiring a hit man

Speaking from his Vatican residence, the 85-year-old pontiff said he respected the Supreme Court’s decision to unravel nearly 50 years’ worth of precedent by overturning the 1973 landmark decision that granted federal abortion protections under the Constitution.

Francis said he said strongly condemned abortion, comparing it to ‘hiring a hit man’. The Catholic Church teaches that life begins at the moment of conception.

He said: ‘I ask: Is it legitimate, is it right, to eliminate a human life to resolve a problem?’