“Spirit of Nazis”
Bishop condemns abortion law

Auxiliary Bishop Andreas Laun of Salzburg told an Austrian news magazine that the country’s law permitting abortion reflects “the spirit of the Nazis and of Communism.” The “common denominator” that links legalized abortion to the Nazi and Communist regimes, the bishop said, is the belief that “we may kill.” Speaking about the law which allows women to abort “severely disabled” babies through the ninth month of pregnancy, he said that “Hitler would have been pleased” with it. Referring to Dr. Heinrich Gross, an ex-Nazi physician who last year was charged with murder for killing disabled babies and children in West Vienna during the Nazi era, Bishop Laun added, “Dr. Gross as a Nazi doctor killed disabled children—only four weeks later than we do. Must Dr. Gross go to prison just because he came too soon? We do it too. That’s pure hypocrisy.” Bishop Laun also said that the Austrian law “belonged in the animal realm.” He explained: “If my dog has a serious accident, I will ask the vet to put him to sleep—but not with human beings.”

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