Seoul (Fides Service) - "People who are born and those about to be born have the same human dignity" said Rev. Casimir Song Yul-sup, new secretary general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea CBCK who was urging for the abolition of 1973 Mother and Child Health Law. In a special column of the Catholic Times 15 December issue, Rev Song Yul-sip explained the stance of the Catholic Bishops' Conference which has denounced the law repeatedly and also petitioned the National Assembly of Korea for the cancellation of the law which allows abortion at any time during pregnancy. The Bishops lament that the law is discriminatory between those who are born and those who are unborn. In Korea 4000-5000 unborn babies are killed every day, some 1.5 million a year. In December 2000 the CBCK sent the National Assembly a petition bearing 1,240,000 signatures requesting the abolition of the law. The Assembly rejected the request on the grounds that "as in many other countries Korea must respect women's 'right of choice'". The Catholic Bishops intend to continue their battle in support of life: "Rich or poor, born or still in the mother's womb, all human beings are equal with human dignity and created in the image of God". (Fides Service 17/12/2002)