Medical Concerns of Induced Abortion and Contraception

After the introduction of the abortion prohibition law in 1953 in Korea, the Constitutional Court ruled a constitutional inconsistency with respect to the abortion prohibition law on April 11, 2019. This decision was made after 66 years. If the abortion prohibition law provisions are not amended before December 31, 2020, the abortion law is automatically abolished. Based on the problem of abortion prohibition law, which was regarded as almost indefinite law, the “Pro-Life Physicians” who were opposed to abortion accused four- obstetrics and gynecology doctors who performed abortion surgery in 2009. Eventually the accused obstetricians were sentenced guilty and punished in 2010. After that event, hospitals that provide abortion surgery have been rapidly reduced and the surgery costs increased significantly. Therefore in the 2010s, some women went to overseas for abortion surgery. In the meantime, a teenager died of excessive bleeding during the abortion procedure in November 2012. On September 22, 2016, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) prescribed that abortion surgery was defined as ‘immoral medical practice’ and foretold the amendments to the “Enforcement Decree of the Medical Law and the Enforcement Regulations” to disqualify doctors for up to 12 months for infractions. In response to the MOHW prescription, women's organizations and other civil groups rebelled strongly. On September 30, 2017, a petition for abolishment of the abortion prohibition law was issued to the Blue House; 230,000 people agreed within one month. KCI Citation Count: 2