Pope Francis- faithful defender of right to life of the unborn and the vulnerable!

Media Release 24 April 2025

Right to Life mourns the death of Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic church, who during his papacy of 12 years faithfully upheld the fifth commandment of God, “Thou shalt not kill” and the 2000- year old teaching of the Church to uphold the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death. This teaching condemns abortion, infanticide and euthanasia as intrinsically evil. The teachings of the church also oppose surrogacy and In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) which are all violations of the natural law.

When he was Archbishop Bergoglio of Buenos Aires in 1998, he taught, “Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you.”

Pope Francis consistently taught that abortion was murder, which takes the life of an already-conceived and growing child. The violence of abortion wounds countless women physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

Pope Francis made headlines on 8 January 2024, when he called for a global surrogacy ban, stating, “I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs.”

Right to Life is saddened that in spite of the teaching of Pope Francis defending the life of unborn children, and opposing euthanasia, many nations have ignored these important teachings. According to the World Health Organisation, there are an estimated 73 million unborn children killed each year in their mother’s womb. Statistics from countries which allow euthanasia, reveal that in 2023, there were 30,000 vulnerable patients killed with a lethal injection or assisted in their suicide.

In a post on X, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that he was “saddened” to hear of the Pope’s passing. “Pope Francis was a Pope for the poor, the downtrodden and the forgotten. He was close to the realities of human fragility, meeting Christians around the world facing war, famine, persecution and poverty. Yet he never lost hope of a better world….”

Right to Life is disappointed that in spite of the Prime Minister’s commendable praise and support for Pope Francis’s defending the vulnerable and downtrodden in Pope Francis teaching opposing abortion, euthanasia, surrogacy and IVF; the government permits and funds these violations of the right to life and the natural law.

In New Zealand in 2024, 17,123 innocent and defenceless precious infants of God, made in His image and likeness were murdered in their mother’s womb and their mothers, the second victim of abortion were wounded physically, psychologically and spiritually. In the year ending 31st March 2024, the N.Z. Ministry of Health reported that there were 344 vulnerable patients killed or assisted in suicide by a doctor, funded by the government as a “health service.”

Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins joined those mourning the passing of Pope Francis.

“I’m very sad to hear of Pope Francis’ passing. We honour the life and service he gave to people around the world, not just of his own faith, but to all people. Throughout his papacy, he showed deep compassion and an unwavering commitment to social justice, inclusion and the dignity of every person…."

Right to Life asks Christopher Hipkins to explain : how you can applaud Pope Francis’s commitment to social justice when your government supported and funded the murder of thousands of innocent preborn children?

Right to Life asks, when is our Parliament going to implement the teaching of Pope Francis’ church in protecting the inalienable right to life of every human being from conception to natural death and cease the murder of the unborn and vulnerable?

Ken Orr,

Spokesperson,

Right to Life New Zealand Inc.