SEOUL (UCAN): In the second year since the South Korea’s Constitutional Court decriminalised abortion the country, the Committee for Life of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea issued a statement on April 15 calling on the parliament to legislate protection for the unborn child, The Catholic Times reported
The statement was signed by committee chairperson, Auxiliary Bishop Linus Lee Seong-hyo of Suwon, who said, “I strongly urge amendment of the criminal law that protects the lives of the unborn child.”
The statement pointed out that for many years the country has seen confrontation and conflict between pro-abortion and anti-abortion advocates. Now however, after the lifting of the ban on abortion “millions of fetuses conceived each year are exposed to the threat of abortion without any protection,” the statement said.
Abortion without any sense of guilt spreads the trend of “neglect of life” and the Church strongly advocates “sanctity of life,” it added.
Reaffirming the Church’s position on abortion, Bishop Lee said, “This will further promote and accelerate a culture of pathological death such as infanticide, child abuse, perpetual murder and suicide, and a culture of anti-life leading to extreme egoism.”
‘This will further promote and accelerate a culture of pathological death such as infanticide, child abuse, perpetual murder and suicide, and a culture of anti-life leading to extreme egoism’
The Church maintains that “the life of the fetus should be respected and protected according to human dignity” and “the legalisation of abortion is the public recognition of murder.”
To emphasise the Church’s pro-life stance, parishes across South Korea will celebrate a Mass for Family and Life, and the month of May will be dedicated as Family Month to prioritise the Church’s mission to create a culture that values life and human dignity.
The Mother and Child Health Act of 1953 criminalised abortion. A woman could be punished by up to a year in prison or a fine of a maximum of two million won ($13,898) for having one, while a medical worker who carries out the procedure could be sentenced to two years in prison.
For years, women’s groups and rights campaigners have argued the law was against women’s right to choose what to do with their bodies and also claimed the abortion ban was part of a broader bias against women in the country.
On 11 April 2019, following prolonged debate, the Constitutional Court ruled that criminalising abortion was illegal and ordered the government to end the ban on abortion by 2020. The court delivered the ruling after a female doctor challenged her prosecution for performing almost 70 abortions.
An opinion poll in 2019 found that around 58 per cent of South Koreans favoured abolishing the abortion ban, the BBC reported.
In October 2020, parliament announced a bill decriminalising abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, while abortions for pregnancies resulting from rape would be permitted between the 15th and 24th weeks.
In January this year, parliament passed legislative measures declaring criminalisation of abortion as unconstitutional and repealing the previous laws.
The Church in South Korea has strongly opposed legalising abortion, saying that “the right to choose makes sense only when the state helps women first make choices about childbirth.”
Korea’s Catholics have also been at the forefront against abortion. In 2018, they launched an anti-abortion petition that gained one million signatures.
On 20 August 2020, an eight-member delegation led by Andrew Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul, met with the country’s president, Moon Jae-in, voiced concerns over the legalising of abortion.
“If the law cannot prohibit abortion, at least a woman who intends to have an abortion must first hear about its psychological, physical and mental consequences through counselling before deciding,” Cardinal Yeom said in a letter submitted to the president.
Despite the ban, abortion for unwanted pregnancies has been rife for years, but punishment has been rare.
According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, up to 2017 about 50,000 abortions were performed, but only 62 incidents led to an indictment and 13 to punishment.
