Pope Francis told participants attending a Vatican-sponsored anti-abortion conference on Saturday that “abortion can never be condoned, even when the fetus is gravely sick or malformed.” The pontiff urged doctors to refuse to perform the procedure and told priests to support families who are carrying difficult pregnancies to term. “Is it licit to throw away a life to resolve a problem?” he asked. “Is it licit to hire a hit man to resolve a problem?” Francis explained that a decision to abort a fetus based on prenatal testing does not allow for God’s intervention and that a “human being is never incompatible with life.” The pope has always spoken out against abortion in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church, but he has also asked that priests allow women who have had abortions to confess and be forgiven.