Decriminalizing abortion

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Opinion

Thu, April 26, 2018 | 03:17

Park Moo-jong

Decriminalizing abortion

Posted : 2017-11-02 17:29

Updated : 2017-11-02 17:29

By Park Moo-jong

Abortion has been a hot-button issue in South Korea along with the decriminalization of prostitution ― both technically illegal albeit very common.

Abortion is allowed only when the mother's health is in serious danger or in cases of rape, incest or hereditary disorders. But any abortion is absolutely illegal after the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The punishment provided by the Criminal Act is severe. Pregnant women who have abortions face up to one-year of imprisonment or a fine of up to 2 million won ($1,780), while those who perform an abortion with the consent of pregnant woman face up to two years in prison.

The government appears to be all out to discourage abortion apparently with the ever-declining birthrate ― the lowest in the world ― in mind. Anti-abortion posters in the subway read, "Having more babies is more patriotic. With abortion, you are aborting the future."

But the "criminals" are seldom punished. The law is almost dead like that against the sex trade. According to a survey by the Health and Welfare Ministry, conducted seven years ago, though, there were about 168,700 abortions in 2010. Experts presumed 70 percent of them were illegal and about one of five fetuses was aborted.

There is much debate across the world over the moral, ethical and legal issues of abortion. Those who oppose abortion, mostly Christians and especially Catholics, maintain that an embryo or fetus is already a human with the right to life, even comparing the practice to murder.

Those who support abortion say that any woman has the right to make decisions about her own body and it is unfair to hold only the woman responsible legally. In addition, the supporters, mainly women organizations and medical doctors, note that the nation's abortion rate has already exceeded the global level.

Against this backdrop, a public petition filed with the presidential office Sunday rekindled the debate about the illegal abortion, making media outlets busy producing related news reports. About 230,000 people, mostly young women, have signed the petition posted on the homepage of Cheong Wa Dae to decriminalize abortion.

(As a new and possibly effective tool to help increase communication with the people in August, the Moon Jae-in administration introduced the "petition," promising to give an official reply within 30 days from a senior-or -ministerial level to a petition with more than 200,000 signatures. This is the second after a petition for the revision of a youth law to criminally punish young people even under 14).

The first petitioner said: "South Korea has a low birthrate. But unwanted pregnancy is a tragedy for those directly involved, the babies and the nation. If a woman undergoes an illegal abortion and an accident happens, how can she receive help under the current law?"

Belatedly, though, the Constitutional Court revealed Tuesday it was screening a constitutional appeal filed with the court in February to that effect of the latest public petition.

Earlier in August 2012, the court turned down the appeal with four of the eight justices voting for the law and the other four against it. Six votes were needed to accept the appeal.

Since then, our society has experienced tremendous changes, both positively and negatively, highlighted by the abrupt fall of former president Park Geun-hye and the dramatic rise of President Moon Jae-in.

Of all changes, we have to pay attention to the tendency among young people, especially women of childbearing age, to have one "perfect" child and abort the rest. A traditional bias for a boy and against the disabled is also contributing to the widespread practice of aborting female fetuses or those with even minor physiological defects easily found through an ultrasound sonogram.

Amid a notable social phenomenon of marrying over the age of 35 on the whole, the inhospitality against increasing unmarried mothers despite the government's monthly stipend and women's wider participation in the work force are also contributing to illegal abortions.

The latest social atmosphere appears to be favorable to the abolition of the legal provisions against abortion, though opposition from religious factions, among others, is still strong.

Progressive regimes of the nation usually showed an amicable attitude toward the legalization of abortion. Some legal experts and medical doctors opined that the possibility for change is higher than ever.

In particular, the earlier remarks by the nominee for the president of the Constitutional Court, Justice Lee Jin-sung, attract keen public attention. He said during a parliamentary hearing in 2012 as a candidate of the court's justice: "Women's rights to make their own decisions to protect themselves from unavoidable pregnancy should not be estimated lower than the fetus' rights to life." Four others had expressed similar opinions.

The world is changing. Ireland, a Catholic country, allowed same sex marriage two years ago in a national referendum. I don't think abortion is more important than marriage between gays.

Park Moo-jong (moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper founded in 1951 from 2004 to 2014 after he worked as a reporter of the daily since 1974.

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