Two years after the South Korea’s Constitutional Court decriminalized abortion, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea has issued a statement urging the protection of unborn children.

The bishops said “millions of fetuses, every year, are exposed to the threat of abortion, without any protection."

They said the voluntary interruption of pregnancy means "publicly recognizing murder" and contributes to spreading "the tendency to neglect life.”

Saying life is sacred; the bishops said it "should be respected and protected from conception, in the name of human dignity."

The Church, the bishops said has dedicated the month May to the family. It will be the "Month of the family” with the priority mission being to "create a culture that values life and human dignity.”

In August 2020, a delegation of Catholic bishops met with President Moon Jae-in to express their dissatisfaction with the decision to legalize abortion.

In a letter to the president, the bishops led by Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, Archbishop of Seoul asked that women who intend to have an abortion receive counseling on the consequences of terminating a pregnancy.

The Constitutional Court had in a 2019 ruling termed the criminalization of abortion illegal and ordered the Government to end its ban on the practice.

Original Source