Korea plans abortion pill rollout as doctors, women's groups clash over access
Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyong, center, speaks during a briefing on the introduction of abortion pills, in Jongno District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Rights advocates seek wider eligibility as physicians call for stronger medical safeguards
As Korea prepares to introduce abortion pills, women’s rights groups and doctors are welcoming the move but remain divided over how broadly the drugs should be made available.
Women's rights advocates are calling for wider eligibility and eased prescription rules, while doctors are urging tighter medical oversight, reflecting a broader debate over how to balance reproductive autonomy with patient safety.
The government on Wednesday announced a plan to allow the use of abortion pills for pregnancies of nine weeks or less, as early as the first quarter of next year.
The move follows a prolonged legislative vacuum since the Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that the criminalization of abortion was unconstitutional. Lawmakers have remained gridlocked over the deeply divisive issue, leaving follow-up legislation on matters such as permissible gestational limits stalled for years.
Amid that vacuum, abortion pills have circulated illicitly, fueling calls for their formal introduction. President Lee Jae Myung instructed officials to discuss allowing Mifegyne during a Cabinet meeting in July.
Mifegyne, a drug containing mifepristone, was first approved in France in 1988 and is permitted in about 100 countries.
"Decisions about pregnancy and childbirth have a significant impact on a woman's entire life, but institutional gaps have long denied an individual's right to safely access the medical system," said Won Min-kyong, minister of gender equality and family.
"Now that the government has formally announced its plan, we expect pregnancy termination to be carried out more safely, easing the burden on women who have no choice but to end a pregnancy due to their socioeconomic circumstances," Won added.
Women's rights groups welcomed the announcement but called for expanded access to the drugs.
The Korea Women's Political Network called for raising the eligibility criteria to at least 10 weeks, citing U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards approving mifepristone and misoprostol for pregnancies of up to 10 weeks from the last menstrual period.
The network also said restricting prescriptions to medical institutions for the first two years after introduction would limit access, particularly for women with little access to obstetric care or those wary of exposing their identities.
"All women who need pregnancy termination should be able to receive medical services safely and with dignity, regardless of their economic, regional or social circumstances," the group said.
Doctors, however, took a cautious stance on expanding access, including pharmacist-dispensed prescriptions.
The Korean Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Wednesday that patient safety and legal protection for doctors must come first.
"We are not opposed to the introduction in principle. But after more than five years of legislative vacuum, administrative guidelines alone cannot resolve the issue of abortion pills," the association said, urging the National Assembly to work on related legislation.
It added that abortion pills require follow-up care in the event of complications, so their introduction must guarantee patient safety, and that the current lack of legislation leaves doctors without legal protection.
Kim Mee-ran, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, said problems could arise if the drugs are sold indiscriminately at pharmacies.
"I'm not opposed to the introduction and agree such drugs are needed ... But pharmacists don't perform ultrasounds or determine whether a pregnancy is ectopic. We need proper management on this issue," Kim said.
An obstetrician-gynecologist who requested anonymity said a doctor's prescription would be safer than the current practice of buying the drugs illegally, but that access should be tightly controlled rather than expanded.
"There is often more bleeding than expected with miscarriages," she said, adding that taking the drugs at home and self-monitoring recovery after a pharmacist's prescription would be dangerous.
She noted that Korean doctors have little experience prescribing Mifegyne and suggested that, at least initially, some doctors may prefer to use the drug in inpatient settings where patients can be monitored for several days.
She also called for the swift enactment of related legislation. "If abortion pills are provided without related laws in place, it could lead to legal problems," she said, adding that doctors remain unclear on their legal standing in the absence of legislation.