South Korea proposes new law allowing abortion up to 14 weeks
“The country has the duty to protect the life of all people,” Fr. Hugo Park Jung-woo, the secretary general of the Archdiocese of Seoul’s Committee for Life, previously told CNA.
“We can raise our voices to make new laws or new policies to help women to choose delivery instead of abortion. That is our strategy.”
The Archdiocese of Seoul’s Committee for Life is currently calling for the revised law to include mandatory counseling for women considering abortion, financial responsibility requirements for biological fathers, and the legal ability for mothers to deliver anonymously due to the cultural stigma surrounding unwed pregnancies in Korea, according to Park.
Seoul archdiocese has also established a fund to support unmarried women who raise a child on their own.
The revision of Korea’s law to legalize abortion will also raise the issue of conscientious objection for medical workers for the first time, according to a recent journal article. Without additional legislation, a doctor’s duty under Korea’s Medical Service Act will be reversed from a legal duty not to perform an abortion to a duty to perform an abortion.
South Korea’s Pro-Life Legal Association has been promoting legislation that will recognize the right of conscientious objection, so that doctors and medical professionals in South Korea will not be forced to perform abortions.
South Korea has one of the lowest rates of childbirth in the world. The government tried to reduce the birth rate for purported economic reasons for many years. Despite the former ban on abortion, the practice was known to be fairly common.
A statement issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea Aug. 28 called for greater solidarity within Korea to build a culture of life.
“We sincerely hope that our society will establish a fair system in which we take co-responsibility for pregnancy and childcare, and strive to be a ‘better Korea’ by building a foundation of respect for life and a culture of life,” the bishops said.
“The state must recognize every human life, regardless of its developmental stage, as a precious human being.”
Tags: Abortion, Catholic News, South Korea, Catholic Church