Korean bishops unveil a nationwide pro-life plan and challenge abortion and assisted-suicide proposals, urging lawmakers to defend life at every stage.
Newsroom, August 30, 2025, Gaudiumpress – The bishops issue a broad call to action, urging both policymakers and the public to reaffirm the sanctity of life at every stage.
Most rev. Moon Chang-woo, Bishop of Jeju and president of the Committee for Family and Life of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of South Korea, presented an ambitious plan to boost the Church’s Pro-Life campaign, with the aim of “reviving the sense of mission and vocation to protect life from its beginning to its natural end” and “raising a prophetic cry,” according to a report from the Vatican’s Fides News Agency.
The initiative, designed to bring the “inalienable respect for human life” back to the forefront of public debate and political action, will coordinate efforts at the national level, including regional programs such as the “Project for Unborn Life,” which supports mothers in need, and “Life 31,” a cultural and advocacy movement that promotes a “Culture of Life.”
On August 26, Bp. Moon, accompanied by representatives of the Episcopal Conference’s Bioethics Committee and the Catholic Institute of Bioethics Research, met with the Health Committee of the National Assembly to discuss proposed amendments to the Maternal and Child Health Act.
The bill, backed by 11 members of the Democratic Party of Korea, seeks to address legal ambiguities following the 2019 Constitutional Court ruling that declared abortion unconstitutional.
The bishops warned that, if approved, the amendment would allow abortions even when the fetus is viable outside the womb and would remove existing restrictions on voluntary terminations of pregnancy. They argue that these measures would permit abortion without limitations, thereby denying the fetus its fundamental right to life.
Father Leo Oh Seok-jun, Secretary General of the Pro-Life Committee of the Archdiocese of Seoul, emphasized the urgency of educating the public on this issue. “There have been many debates on this topic in the past: We are against abortion, regardless of gestational age,” he stated.
Fr. Oh stressed the need to communicate the Church’s stance clearly to ensure that “believers and all people of good will do not lose sight of the central value of life, namely, the dignity of human life.”
The pro-life debate has also extended to end-of-life issues. On August 28, most Rev. Ku Yoo-bi, Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul and president of the Bioethics Committee, addressed assisted suicide during a National Assembly forum. “The growing demand for euthanasia and assisted suicide today is due to the loss of hope for recovery,” Msgr. Ku declared.
The prelate criticized social pressures that prioritize efficiency and productivity, noting that these values often frame healthcare as “wasteful and useless,” pushing vulnerable patients toward death.
Bp. Ku underlined that a society’s humanity is measured by its care for the sick and the weak. He warned against presenting assisted suicide as compassionate, calling it a distortion of true medical care.
“Self-determination can apply only to the living and cannot prevail over the fundamental right to life,” he said, asserting that death cannot be framed as a right.
As the Church in South Korea intensifies its efforts, the bishops’ campaign signals a broader call to action, urging both policymakers and the public to reaffirm the sanctity of life at all stages.
Raju Hasmukh with information from Vatican News. Translation by Gaudium Press Spanish edition.
Compiled by Adele Wong.
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