The Constitutional Court has added fuel to a debate over a law banning doctors from revealing the gender of fetuses since it ruled against the law last week. In the eight to one ruling, the court said the law banning doctors from notifying parents of the gender of their unborn baby is out-of-date and ``violates a pregnant woman's right to know.'' The court also said the ban restricts the right of pregnant women to pursue happiness and infringes on doctors' professional rights.
It is expected that pregnant women will be allowed to know their fetus gender from 2010 since the court ordered the law to be rewritten to legalize the prenatal sex test on unborn babies by the end of 2009. The test was banned in 1987 as women rushed to get abortions of female fetuses due to a strong preference for boys over girls. Such preference is a traditional Confucian legacy in male-dominant Korean society.
Making the decision, the court said, ``The age-old preference for boys has lessened these days and the skewed gender ratio due to rampant sex-selection abortions has dropped to an acceptable level.'' It stated that it is ``an overstretched measure" to prohibit the prenatal gender test throughout a pregnancy. The court also said, ``there is almost no possibility that the gender issue will cause women to have an abortion after 28 weeks of pregnancy because the abortion itself carries high risks.''
In fact, South Korea's male-preference culture has increasingly lost ground following its rapid industrialization and a sharp increase in the number of nuclear families. The nation's gender ratio now stands at 100 to 107.4 in favor of boys. The figure is close to the natural ratio of 100 to 106, meaning that 106 boys are born for 100 girls. It is obvious that the court believes there is no reason to maintain the gender test ban any more.
However, religious groups and pro-life activists have expressed worries that the court ruling might promote abortions among women who want to give birth to boys or girls selectively. Although the long-held male preference culture has eased, not a few couples would still choose a certain gender, whether girl or boy. Many parents who have boys first prefer to have a daughter as their second child.
In this situation, there is no guarantee that abortions will decline even after the gender test ban is lifted. South Korea has a bad reputation as a haven for abortions. Illegal abortions reached 342,000 cases in 2005. This does not include the many illegal abortions not reported to health authorities and the new ruling could cause the number to rise yet further.
Therefore, critics have urged the government and the National Assembly to take appropriate measures to prevent illegal abortions before legalizing the gender test on fetuses. The Constitution guarantees a fetus' right to life. This right could be put before a pregnant women's right to know their unborn babies' sex and their pursuit of happiness. It is urgent for the nation to form a consensus on how to fully respect the rights of the unborn.