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| Protesters urge the Constitutional Court to rule against abortion ban in front of the top court in Jongno, Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap |
By Kim Jae-heun
Although the Constitutional Court ruled against the country's 66-year-old abortion ban, Thursday, there still seems to be a long way to go before a law revision is made by next year.
The top court ordered the National Assembly to amend related laws by Dec. 31, 2020, but many possible issues are emerging such as how many weeks into pregnancy abortion will be allowed and whether the national health insurance will cover it.
For the next 20 months, terminating a pregnancy is still illegal and people can be punished for having the procedure.
Prosecutors will postpone their investigations and indictments over abortion charges and the courts will delay rulings to wait for the law revision.
Above all, the biggest controversy will be up to how late into a pregnancy abortions will be allowed. France and Germany allow abortion until 12 weeks, Australia 20 weeks and England 24 weeks.
However, medical professionals warns that fixing a certain number of weeks as legal for abortion can bring side effects like banning surgery at an inevitable time so the decision should be made upon medical judgment.
Whether to make national health insurance cover abortion or not is another hot potato.
Most people choose to get abortions for economic reasons and a number of opinions argue that the costs should be covered by the national health insurance.
Opponents argue that insurance can be abused to encourage surgery if the plan is adopted and unnecessary operations will increase.
"Some patients want to undergo surgery because they prefer not to take medicine," Korean Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists President Lee Choong-hoon said. "A full consultation over the safety of medicine is advised for them before making the decision to undergo surgery or not. Also, education on sex and birth control need to take place beforehand."
Women also argue for holding male partners accountable for unwanted pregnancies that end in illegal abortion.
"I don't understand why only women have to go through all these procedures. It is not like a woman becomes pregnant by herself," a Korea Women's Association United (KWAU) member surnamed Kim said. "Men have to be responsible for their impulsive acts and be punished if they try to ignore the situation later."
Meanwhile, the women's activist group welcomed the Constitutional Court's decision and further urged the government and the National Assembly to take responsibility in securing women's health and reproductive rights.
"A new page of history has been opened to lead us toward a society of gender equality. It is a victory for women who fought to abolish the abortion ban that infringed our dignity and self-determination," the KWAU said in its statement released Thursday.
