Washington D.C., Jul 30, 2007 / 08:37 am
The Catholic Church in South Korea is bracing for a legal battle to protect life.
Prompted by the recent plans of the South Korean government to back cloning efforts by disgraced scientist Dr. Woo-Suk Hwang (who in 2005 fraudulently claimed to have cloned human embryos), Cardinal Nicholas Cheong has announced that the Catholic Church will be actively supporting lay efforts in the fall session of the National Assembly in defense of human rights and the dignity of the human person.
The cardinal also emphasized that contrary to what the detractors of the Church say, the Church is pro-cures and has awarded $10 million in grants to adult stem cell researchers.
Lawyers of the U.S.-based Bioethics Defense Fund, Nikolas Nikas and Dorinda Bordlee, will be assisting in the Catholic lay movement in South Korea against cloning. They will be in Seoul this week on a legal, media and educational mission.
“BDF is honored to respond to the call of Cardinal Cheong to provide legal assistance to members of the National Assembly, to the Catholic and secular press, and to the newly formed Seoul pro-life bioethics legal team headed by attorneys James and Gloria Kim,” reads a press release.
Nikas has asked for prayers for their mission to a country that has great influence on worldwide bioethics policy.
The group will make available the BDF Bioethics Blueprints, which provides the text of life-affirming bioethics legislation that has been enacted in the U.S., as well as in Canada, Germany, Italy and France.
For more information, visit: www.BDFund.org