The Pope Confirms What We Suspected All Along About His Views On Roe V. Wade

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in the "landmark legal decision" that protected abortion access across the United States — the case is more commonly referred to as Roe v. Wade (via History). Abortion access was elevated to the level of the Supreme Court when Texas implemented an abortion ban across the state, which the court then struck down, effectively allowing access to the medical procedure throughout the country.

For most of the 1800s, abortion was legal in the United States. However, many religious affiliates, such as the Catholic Church, had banned the practice dating back to 1869 (per History). A few years later, in 1873, the United States instituted the Comstock law, which made the distribution of all contraceptives via mail illegal. Shortly thereafter, abortion itself became unlawful in most areas of the country.

Centuries later, the Catholic religion still holds its initial beliefs (per The Outline). With the recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down Roe v. Wade, though, many people were looking to Pope Francis — who is regarded as a more progressive pope — to see where he stood on the matter of abortion. He recently made a statement about the topic that spoke volumes and clarified how he really feels.

Many popes of the Catholic Church have been conservative, however, Pope Francis has brought a more modern vision to the church's highest order in recent years (via Bustle). When it comes to issues like climate change, LGBTQ+ marriage, and gender equality, Pope Francis has spoken out in a progressive manner. In 2013, he said, "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" (per Bustle). This is a statement that had not been echoed by previous popes.

However, when it comes to the issue of abortion, he stands firm in his religion's ideology. According to TMZ, in a recent conversation at the Vatican, Pope Francis stated, "I ask, is it legitimate? Is it right to eliminate a human life to resolve a problem?" He continued to state that abortion, in his mind, was like "hiring a hitman to solve a problem." While Pope Francis has been more forward-thinking in establishing his viewpoint on other social issues, it seems as though he's in alignment with the Catholic Church's longstanding opinion of abortion.