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In Korea, the legal basis for punishing abortion has disappeared, but there is no clear standard on the level to which abortion is allowed.



This is because the National Assembly has delayed legislation even after the Constitutional Court ruled that the abortion was unconstitutional.



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In April 2019, the Constitutional Court ruled that the provisions on the crime of abortion under the Criminal Act were against the Constitution, saying that it limits a pregnant woman's right to self-determination.



[Yoo Nam-seok / President of the Constitutional Court (April 11, 2019): All of them are not in accordance with the Constitution.

These provisions have a deadline of December 31, 2020 and remain in effect until amended by the legislature.]



To prevent immediate confusion, the law is amended to determine how far abortion is permitted and how to protect women's rights. It was an order to determine whether or not to do so through legislation.



After the Constitutional Court decision, six amendments to the Criminal Act were proposed to the 21st National Assembly to amend the provisions on the crime of abortion.



The bill proposed by the People's Power lawmakers basically set a period of 6 or 10 weeks, and only allowed abortion before that time.



It is a position that emphasizes the right to life of the fetus.



On the other hand, the bill proposed by the Democratic Party and Justice Party lawmakers aims to completely abolish the crime of abortion by deleting the provisions on the crime of abortion in the Criminal Act.



Emphasis is placed on the self-determination of pregnant women.



Separately from the ruling and opposition parties, the government introduced an amendment to allow abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, but to extend the period of abortion if there are circumstances such as sexual violence.



However, no bill has been passed by the National Assembly so far.



All six cases are tied to the Judiciary Committee, because there is a big difference between the ruling and opposition parties, and arguments from various fields such as women's circles, religious circles, and medical circles are complicatedly intertwined.



[Na-young / CEO of the Center for Sexual Rights and Reproductive Justice 'Share': I think that there is a blank state in securing rights because we have not actively discussed such discussions in the National Assembly yet.

I hope that the legal system will be established as soon as possible.]



It is the National Assembly's turn to find an answer to the Constitutional Court's order to find a balance between the fetus' right to life and the pregnant woman's right to self-determination.



(Video coverage: Kim Heung-gi·Lee Chan-soo, Video editing: Choi Jin-hwa, CG: Park Ju-min·Kwon In-sook·Lee Eun-ju)



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