South Korea's bishops call for resistance to abortion law amendments

Pro-lifers worldwide can find inspiration from South Korea's Catholic bishops, who recently urged the entire country to oppose the government’s proposed amendments to existing abortion laws.

The bishops' campaign highlights the necessity of defending life through a holistic support system for pregnant mothers, through advocacy, and through the building of a culture of life.  

Key Takeaways:

• The Korean Bishops' conference has vocally opposed the government's efforts to liberalize the country's abortion laws.

• If the proposed amendments pass, South Korea will allow abortions even when a baby is able to survive outside the womb and remove all abortion restrictions in the country.

• The bishops' approach involves engaging pro-life issues at multiple levels, addressing them with the national government as well as community support groups.

• The bishops have called for efforts to educate the public about abortion and end-of-life issues, for policies that do not pit mothers and children against each other, for language that accurately depicts the truth about abortion, and for tangible solutions to the issues mothers and families face.

The Details:

In late August, Jeju Bishop Moon Chang-woo, acting as President of the Committee for Family and Life within the Korean Bishops' Conference, announced plans to reboot the "Pro-Life Movement" on a nationwide scale to “reawaken the sense of the mission and vocation to protect life from its beginning to its natural end” and to “raise a prophetic cry,” while placing the vital matter of the dignity of human life in the public arena. 

Abortion

Conceptualized at the national level, the movement hopes to encapsulate, network, and coordinate various existing regional initiatives in the regions, such as the “Project for Unborn Life,” set up to aid vulnerable mothers to avoid abortions by offering Catholic health and care facilities, according to a report from Fides News. Such efforts also apply to the "Life 31" movement, which spreads the culture of life through various cultural activities and reaffirms life from the moment of conception to natural death.

On August 26, Bishop Moon, together with representatives of Catholic groups like the Bishops’ Conference Bioethics Committee and the Catholic Bioethics Research Institute, met with the South Korean National Assembly’s Health Committee regarding proposed amendments to the Maternal and Child Health Act.

The changes, if implemented, would:

• allow abortions even when a fetus is viable outside the womb

• remove existing barriers to voluntary terminations of pregnancies

The bishops warned that such amendments would permit “unrestricted abortion,” depriving preborn human beings of their right to life, LiCAS News reported. 

Father Leo Oh Seok-jun, Secretary General of the Pro-Life Committee of the Archdiocese of Seoul, singled out of the importance of public education regarding abortion, saying, “There have been many discussions on this issue in the past: We are against abortion, regardless of the gestational age."

He said it is imperative that the matter of abortion is explained to the public “so that believers and all people of good will do not lose touch with the central value of life, namely the dignity of human life.”

End-of-Life

Discussions pertaining to the culture of life have also touched on end-of-life matters, as Bishop Ku Yoo-bi, Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul and president of the Bioethics Committee, broached the topics of  euthanasia and assisted suicide during an August 28 forum at the South Korean National Assembly.

“The increasing demand for euthanasia and assisted suicide today is due to the loss of hope for recovery,” Bishop Ku declared. “When our society emphasizes only efficiency and productivity, caring for patients is viewed as a wasteful and useless activity, which leads to patients being driven to their deaths.”

The bishop elaborated that society’s humanity is measured by how it cares for the sick and the weak, cautioning that neglecting or pushing vulnerable patients toward death removes the moral foundations of society. He also warned against portraying assisted suicide as an act of compassion, lambasting the practice as a a distortion of actual care for vulnerable patients. 

Attempts to sanitize killing

The bishops also vehemently resisted the government’s proposed amendment that altered the use of certain terms, shifting from “artificial intervention for abortion” to “artificial termination of pregnancy.” The bishops noted that this language redefines abortion in neutral terms, obscuring “the very nature of life, diminish[ing] its value, and compromis[ing] the ethical perception of abortion. This rhetorical shift transforms abortion from a 'decision to terminate' to a 'therapeutic decision,' potentially leading to a dangerous cultural shift that reduces abortion to a mere 'routine medical procedure,’’ Fides News reported.

The Way to Win:

For pro-life advocates, the example set by South Korea’s bishops is a good reminder of several things:

• Language can be a vital tool to accurately depict the gruesome reality of abortion — the often brutal, always intentional, killing of an innocent human being. Strategically chosen words can accurately unearth inconvenient truths, challenge sanitized or euphemistic ways of describing abortion, and remind society of the need to respect the dignity of all human lives. 

• Public policies and law should not regard mothers and their children as mutually exclusive adversaries. Rather than pitting pregnant mothers against their preborn children, the bishops urged lawmakers to implement policies that cater to the welfare of both women and children to ensure that pregnancies and childbirths are not societal burdens but are essential to ensure the survival of South Korean society. Campaigning for more robust community support initiatives and policies to serve women, children, and families would help to debunk the idea that mothers and their children are enemies.

• Seeking direct dialogue with lawmakers, raising public awareness on bioethical issues, and providing education is crucial. By meeting with the National Assembly’s Health Committee, raising public awareness with educational campaigns and open discussions, and more, the South Korean bishops have tried to pave the way for pro-lifers to influence legislative matters and ensure that defending the dignity of preborn lives remain at the forefront of public consciousness. 

• Providing tangible solutions to enhance maternal and child care reinforces the value of life from conception to natural death. The “Project for Unborn Life” (an initiative that entails financial and emotional support for vulnerable pregnant women), other educational campaigns, and practical and life-affirming solutions to address abortion-minded women's concerns (financial aid, shelter, and counseling) can go a long way toward empowering women and children while maintaining a culture of life.

The Bottom Line:

By their recent nationwide call to resist proposed amendments to existing abortion laws, South Korea’s bishops have shown that the noble cause of defending life is a multi-faceted vocation involving principled advocacy, coordinated action at the community and national levels, and consistent public education in the long haul.

Only by adopting a comprehensive strategy involving lawmakers, religious institutions, social support networks, and even individuals can pro-lifers more effectively defend all human life, from the womb to the tomb.