Pope John Paul II has lashed out against abortion and warned that its practice could lead to the fall of democratic regimes.
"The church affirms the right to life to every innocent human being at the moment of its existence," he told participants of the eighth general assembly of the papal academy.
The pontiff warned against the "grave danger that the false interpretation of human rights poses in not taking into account the reality of human nature, which can drive democratic regimes to transform themselves into totalitarian regimes.
"The distinction sometimes made in certain official documents between a human being and a human person to then apply the right to life and physical integrity only to people who are already born is an artificial distinction without scientific or philosophical foundation," he said.
"Every human being, from his conception to his natural death, has the inviolable right to life and deserves all respect due to the human person," he added.
AFP