Korean Abortion Doctors Turn Against Abortion

Jan. 11, 2010 - PRLog -- A  Korean doctor has had a change of heart after performing abortions for nearly twenty years and hearing the cries of his patients. He has been so moved by his patients’ distress that he has started a movement by former abortion doctors who want stricter sanctions against abortion in Korea. Even though South Korean law prohibits abortion except in rare cases, the law is flaunted so much that the country is called the “Abortion Republic.”

The news is food for thought for women in Berwyn, Cicero, Stickney, N. Riverside and surrounding areas who are considering abortion.

"Over time, I became emotionless," Shim Sang-duk, a 42-year-old obstetrician, told the Los Angeles Times recently about the abortions he performed. "I came to see the results of my work as just a chunk of blood.” He began to despise himself, then stopped performing abortions, and then founded an activist group of doctors who want stronger measures taken against abortion in Korea.

In November, Shim and dozens of other obstetricians held a news conference to ask “forgiveness” for having performed illegal abortions, according to the New York Times. In the lobby of Shim’s clinic, a sign today reads, “Abortions, which abandon the valuable life of a fetus, are the very misery for the nation and society as well as pregnant women, families and ob-gyn doctors.”

The new group, Gynob, says that its motivation is not religious, and that some of its members are not Christian. Abortion in Korea carries little of the emotional or religious meaning that it does in the United States. Gynob’s website, www.antidc.org, says, “The life of the fetus must be respected.” The group claims the support of 700 physicians, 30 of whom used to perform abortions and now have stopped.

Women in Berwyn, Cicero, Stickney, N. Riverside, Forest Park, Maywood and other nearby suburbs in the western Chicago, IL area who need more information about the emotional and physical effects of abortion should call WomanCare Services, at 708-795-6000. Or go to http://www.womancare.org.

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WomanCare Services, of Berwyn, IL provides help to women with unexpected pregnancies. Our consultations are confidential. Call 708-795-6000. Or go to http://www.womancare.org.