Embryo Also a Human Being, Korean Bishops Confirm

The Korean Bishops' Conference answers the decision of the Supreme Court that doesn't consider embryo a human being.CZECH

Seoul (ROK): The South Korean Supreme Court ruled that an unborn child will not be considered human: last week it cleared a midwife of negligent homicide charges. In 2001, the mother consulted a midwife at a facility in Seoul as the expected birth date approached, although she felt no labour pains. The midwife told the mother to wait two weeks, during which time the baby died of cerebral damage. The Supreme Court upheld an acquittal of the midwife, ruling that the unborn baby was not a human being, and thus no homicide took place.

The ruling stated that 'the mother did not have labour pains, which is the beginning of childbirth, thus the unborn baby cannot be recognized as a human being' and the homicide was not committed, the court says.

'Every country has slightly different legal grounds on when to consider an unborn a human being, but no country has such a definitive ruling that an unborn baby is not a human being,' said Father Lee Dong-ik, professor of medicine at the Catholic University of Korea and a member of the bioethics committee of the Korean Bishops' Conference. According to him, the sentence is a social defeat: 'We are living in an era in which a 21-week unborn child can be saved with an incubator. It is unacceptable to see a verdict where a 42-week unborn is not considered a human being,' Professor Lee Dong-ik adds.