Pope Francis spoke out about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, saying he respects it.
Francis said during an interview with Reuters, “I tell you the truth. I don’t understand it from a technical point of view.”
He added, “I have to study it because I don’t really understand (the details of) the ruling 50 years ago and now I can’t say whether it did right or wrong from a judicial point of view.”
Still, the pope said, “I respect the decisions.”
Commenting on the issue of abortion itself, Francis explained, “In this we have to be scientific, see what science tells us today. Science today and any book on embryology, the one our medical students study, tells you that 30 days after conception there is DNA and the laying out already of all the organs.”
He went on to ask, “Is it legitimate, is it right, to eliminate a human life to resolve a problem?”
Francis argued, “It’s a human life – that’s science. The moral question is whether it is right to take a human life to solve a problem.”
Additionally, Francis stressed the significance of a pastoral approach to politicians who are Catholic and also support abortion.
“When the Church loses its pastoral nature, when a bishop loses his pastoral nature, it causes a political problem. That’s all I can say,” Francis said.
His comments come less than a month after he presided over a mass during which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) received Communion.
Pelosi has been vocal about her support for the right to abortion and recently spoke out against the Supreme Court’s decision.
She was visiting Rome during a vacation with her family when she met with the pope and attended a Mass for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
The House speaker reportedly did not receive Communion from Francis but from one of the priests at the service.
“From the time he was archbishop in Buenos Aires, Francis has rarely distributed Communion, precisely to prevent the sacrament from becoming politicized,” the Associated Press reported.