Pope Benedict rejected the concept that abortion could be considered a human right on Friday and urged European leaders to do everything possible to raise birth rates and make their countries more child-friendly.
"It was in Europe that the notion of human rights was first formulated. The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself," he said in an address at the former imperial Hofburg Palace.
"This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right -- it is the very opposite. It is a deep wound in society."
Abortion is expected to a big issue in next year's campaign for president in the United States, where conservatives want to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion.
The Pope's words also put him on a collision course with the human rights group Amnesty International, which has recently adopted a new stance supporting a woman's right to abortion if her life is threatened of if she has been raped.
Reuters
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