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Number of abandoned newborns more than halves within four years
A Jusarang Community Church official opens a baby box operated by the church in Seoul's Gwanak District in this Jan. 19 photo. Korea Times photo by Choi Joo-yeon
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
The number of babies abandoned at “baby boxes” more than halved last year ― from 2018 ― due mainly to a 2019 landmark ruling by the Constitutional Court decriminalizing abortion as well as the decrease in outdoor activities as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Seoul Institute, Sunday, a total of 106 babies were dropped off at baby boxes last year, down from 217 in 2018.
Baby boxes allow parents to anonymously and safely abandon their unwanted babies so that others can care for them.
In Korea, the first baby box began operating at Jusarang Community Church in December 2009, and one more baby box has been in operation since 2014 in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province.
The number of babies dropped off at these baby boxes was 35 in 2011, and increased sharply to 79 in 2012 and 252 in 2013.
The number stayed in the 200 range from 2014 to 2018, and began to decline to 170 in 2019, 137 in 2020, 113 in 2021 and 106 in 2022.
“We understand that cases of secretive abortions have been reduced following the 2019 Constitutional Court ruling,” said Yang Seung-won, a senior official from Jusarang Community Church. “We also think decreasing outside activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, have exerted some influence.”
In April 2019, abortion was technically legalized in Korea as the Constitutional Court concluded that banning abortion in the early stages of pregnancy was a violation of the right to self-determination. The court viewed that abortion before the 22nd week of pregnancy should be decriminalized, saying that a woman's right to self-determination outweighs a fetus' right to life.
Jusarang Community Church added that 30 percent of 106 babies dropped off at the baby boxes last year returned to their parents, up from 16.8 percent a year earlier.
The church attributed this to its consistent efforts to persuade parents to raise their children on their own while offering various supports including financial aid.