It was the second time in as many weeks that Francis has been asked about his views on abortion, which remains a hotly-contested issue for the Catholic Church
Pope Francis wrapped up a troubled visit to Belgium on Sunday by doubling down on his traditional views on abortion, calling the abortion law "homicidal".
"Doctors who do this are - allow me the word - hitmen. They are hitmen," Francis said. "And on this you cannot argue. You are killing a human life."
The comments have sparked online uproar, with pro-choice commentators writing on social media platform X that King Baudouin was a "coward" and that abortion bans have "never saved lives".
Anti-abortion advocates, however, counter this by saying that he was a "warrior".
It was the second time in as many weeks that the leader of the Catholic Church has been asked about his views on abortion during an in-flight news conference.
On a flight from Asia, Francis said US voters should choose the "lesser evil" when picking between a presidential candidate who wants to deport migrants and one who supports abortion rights - a reference to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
The pontiff revisited the key thorny topics of his trip during his in-flight news conference coming home, praising Belgium's late King Baudouin as a "saint" for having abdicated for a day in 1990 rather than sign legislation legalising abortion.
"You need a politician who wears pants to do this," Pope Francis said, using a Spanish expression. "You need courage," he said, adding that Baudouin's beatification process was moving along.
Pontiff calls for action on church abuse
While on his Belgium trip, Pope Francis also demanded that Catholic bishops stop covering up for predator priests after the latest in a series of scandals that has devastated the church's credibility around the globe.
Pope Francis used his only Mass in Belgium to publicly demand that priests who abuse young people be punished, and that the church hierarchy stop covering up their crimes.
He praised the courage of victims who came forward about their abuse in improvised remarks to a crowd of some 30,000 at Brussels' King Baudouin stadium.
"Evil must not be hidden. Evil must be brought out into the open," the pope said to repeated rounds of applause.
Pope Francis deviated from his prepared homily Sunday to respond to the meeting he held with 17 abuse survivors on Friday night.
He heard first-hand trauma of how the survivors overcame the abuse and the tone-deaf response of the church when they reported the crimes.
Belgium has a long history of clerical sexual abuse and cover-ups. This activity reached boiling point when Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe was allowed to quietly retire in 2010 after he admitted that he had sexually abused his nephew for 13 years.
Pope Francis only defrocked him this year - 14 years later - in a move clearly seen as finally dealing with a problem.
The victims gave the pope a letter with several requests. One includes establishing a universal church system of reparations, since many say the financial settlements they have received from the church don't cover the costs of therapy many require.
Pope Francis praised the victims' courage and acknowledged that the settlements many have received in civil judgements - which he said he believed were capped at 50,000 euros - were not enough.
"We have the responsibility to help the abused and take care of them," he said. "Some need psychological help: (We must) help them with this."
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