* Catholic Support to Anti-abortion Campaign

Pro-Life Activities of the Committee for Bioethics of the CBCK (President: Most Rev. Gabriel Chang Bong-hun) issued a statement to support an 'Anti-abortion Campaign' conducted by a group of obstetricians and gynecologists who really concern for illegal abortions. The following is the full text of the statement.

We support the obstetricians and gynecologists

who take the initiative in anti-abortion

A group of Korean obstetricians and gynecologists, through a statement issued on October 19, 2009, reflected on the past illegal abortions, declaring their will to stop illegal abortion surgery from November 1, 2009, and appealed to the whole society to participate in the commitment to anti-abortion.

Pro-Life Activities of the CBCK welcomes and supports this courageous decision for anti-abortion made by the obstetricians and gynecologists. We hope that their decision will be realized to be an occasion for our society to overcome a trend that makes light of human life and to build a culture of life.

The human life should be respected and protected from the moment of conception until natural death. However, facing innumerable abortions destroying embryos which are at the most fragile stage of life, our society has kept silence and remained impassive. For this, families and our whole society including medical, legal, political, and religious circles should feel their responsibility. Therefore, we appreciate such a self-purifying effort of obstetricians and gynecologists through the anti-abortion movement. Furthermore we should actively take part in setting up a legal order to value the life of an embryo and in building a culture of life.

1. Since the government has a duty to protect the lives of its citizens, it should establish a policy and legal order for protecting the human life and remove or revise the article 14 of the Act of Maternal and Child Health Care which in reality stimulates abortions.

2. The government should reorganize the related institutions by improving the medical charge of obstetrics and gynecology to adjust to the reality so that obstetricians and gynecologists may faithfully take care of life of unborn children, expectant mothers, newborn babies, and women delivered of a child,

3. Our society, especially the political and religious circles should make efforts to realize this decision of the obstetricians and gynecologists. Academic circles should cultivate pro-life consciousness of young generation through proper sex education.

4. All citizens in our society should take this as an opportunity to change their awareness of abortion fundamentally so that human life can be respected particularly from within the family and there be no more promotion of abortion.

We would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to all who have made efforts to build a culture of life in our country. We sincerely hope that the anti-abortion campaign conducted by some obstetricians and gynecologists become an opportunity for our society to change into a pro-life society.

October 29, 2009

+ Gabriel Chang Bong-hun

Bishop of Cheongju

President

Pro-Life Activities

of the Committee for Bioethics of the CBCK