Pope says abortion is like hiring 'contract killer'

Vatican City, Oct. 10 (PTI/AFP): Pope Francis on Wednesday compared having an abortion to hiring a "contract killer". "Interrupting a pregnancy is like eliminating someone," Francis said in an address to worshippers in the Vatican. "Getting rid of a human being is like resorting to a contract killer to solve a problem," he added. "Is it just to resort to a contract killer to solve a problem?" His comments departed from the prepared text for his homily delivered during his weekly audience on Saint Peter's Square. In his address, the Argentine pontiff complained of a "depreciation of human life". He cited wars, exploitation and what he called a culture of wastefulness, as well as abortion. "How can an act that suppresses innocent life be therapeutic, civil or even human?" he asked. Francis this year opposed a bill that would have legalized abortion in Argentina. In August a lay campaign group said thousands of Argentine Catholics had renounced their membership of the church to protest against his opposition to the bill.