Pope Francis has denounced euthanasia, describing it as "a sin against God". Speaking to the Association of Italian Catholic Doctors on Saturday, the pontiff said that it was a “false sense of compassion” to think of euthanasia as an act of dignity. The Pope also condemned IVF treatment, calling it “the scientific production of a child”, and said that embryonic stem cell research, amounted to “using human beings as laboratory experiments to presumably save others.” “This is playing with life,” he added. “Beware, because this is a sin against the creator, against God the creator.” Francis went on to urge doctors to take “courageous and against-the-grain” decisions to uphold Church teaching.