South Korea Still Blocking Abortion

Government’s Refusal to Update Laws Part of Wider Gender Discrimination

Susanné Seong-eun Bergsten, Officer, Women's Rights Division
June 11, 2024

Years after a South Korean court ordered the government to respect the right to access abortion care, South Korean women and girls are still unable to get this necessary sexual and reproductive service.

On May 17, a South Korean court rejected an appeal by Women on Web (WoW), a nongovernmental organization that provides information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and Open Net Korea, a digital rights civil society organization, to unblock the WoW website. The Korea Communications Standards Commission blocked the website in 2019, claiming it violated the country’s Pharmaceutical Affairs Act by connecting women in need of abortion pills, which have not been legalized in the country, to overseas pharmacists.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/11/south-korea-still-blocking-abortion

11.06.2024

Commentary

Korea Communications Standards Commission

Open Net Korea

Pharmaceutical Affairs Act

Susanné Seong-eun Bergsten

India – 28-week-old fetus’ right to life trumps right to abort: SC

Dhananjay Mahapatra / TNN
May 16, 2024

Supreme Court upholds 28-week-old fetus’s right to life, denying unmarried woman’s plea to terminate pregnancy under Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act despite provisions for rape survivors and minors to abort beyond 24 weeks. Delhi HC Justice Subramonium Prasad rejects plea for termination citing ethical and legal concerns about feticide. … SC said, "The child in the womb has a fundamental right to life.”

Continued: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/28-week-old-fetus-right-to-life-trumps-right-to-abort-sc/articleshow/110157500.cms

16.05.2024

News

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Advocating for Abortion Reform in the Philippines

New brief by the Center and its partner outlines the impact of the country’s restrictive abortion laws and recommends legalization and decriminalization.

Center for Reproductive Rights
May 14, 2024

In its continuing efforts to advocate for abortion decriminalization and reform in the Philippines, the Center for Reproductive Rights and its regional partner, Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network (PINSAN), recently developed a brief outlining the impact of the country’s restrictive abortion laws and advocating for abortion decriminalization and reforms aligning with international human rights standards.

In Brief: Unveiling the Realities of Laws on Abortion in the Philippines examines the country’s abortion laws—including their origins and restrictions—and the laws’ real-life impact on the health and rights of Filipino women and girls.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/advocating-philippines-abortion-reform/

India – Supreme Court allows abortion of minor rape survivor

By : AgencyFirst
Monday, Apr 22, 2024

New Delhi (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday allowed medical termination of the pregnancy of a 14-year-old rape survivor while noting that continuing the pregnancy may harm the physical and mental health of the minor.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala, allowing the girl to undergo abortion who is over 29 weeks pregnant, held that the urgency of the situation and the welfare of the minor necessitated the medical termination of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=183104&headline=SC-allows-abortion-of-minor-rape-survivor

22.04.2024

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

Reproductive rights elusive 1 year after Japan’s approval of abortion pill

April 20, 2024
By Chermaine Lee

OSAKA, JAPAN — Wider access to abortion in Japan has largely remained elusive a year after the historic approval of medical abortion pills.

In April last year, lawmakers approved the use of the two-step abortion pill — MeFeego Pack — for pregnancies up to nine weeks. Before that, women in the East Asian nation could only receive a surgical abortion in private clinics by designated surgeons that often charge as much as $370.

Financial strain aside, women were often required to provide proof of spousal consent to receive an abortion, making it nearly impossible for them to make the decision on their own. Reports showed that even for single women, doctors still asked for permission of a male partner before agreeing to perform such surgeries.

Continued: https://www.voanews.com/a/reproductive-rights-elusive-1-year-after-japan-s-approval-of-abortion-pill-/7577929.html

Philippines: Making abortion a constitutional right

MAR 26, 2024
ANA P. SANTOS

The Philippine prohibitions on abortion are one of the strictest in the world. This is the story of one woman who didn’t let that stop her from getting an abortion.

France just made abortion a constitutional right. Compared to the United States, where Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court recognized and upheld the constitutional right to abortion, France has enshrined it in its constitution – the legal decree from which all other laws are founded. This means that the right to abortion in France cannot be overturned as it was in the reversal of Roe vs. Wade. France is the first country where women and pregnant people are explicitly guaranteed the right to terminate a pregnancy and make decisions about their bodies.

Continued: https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/dash-of-sas-making-abortion-constitutional-right-philippines/

26.03.2024

Commentary

abortion story

Ana P. Santos

Center for Reproductive Rights

Transforming abortion stigma in Nepal: One provider’s story

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2024

Amid the towering Himalayas in Nepal, attitudes about abortion have been changing. In 2002, abortion went from being criminalized to being legal for any reason up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Since then, access has only expanded.

Dr. Deeb Shrestha Dango, a dedicated OB-GYN and head of health systems and policy for Ipas Nepal, has stood at the forefront of this transformation. Navigating a shifting landscape of abortion rights and stigma, she has fought to expand abortion access in Nepal for over twenty years.

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/transforming-abortion-stigma-in-nepal-one-providers-story/

25.03.2024

Commentary

abortion stigma

abortion values clarification for action and transformation

Dr. Deeb Shrestha Dango

How the grisly discovery of a ‘foetus mortuary’ re-shaped Thailand’s abortion laws

Years after the country’s abortion legislation shifted, entrenched attitudes still obstruct access in the Buddhist country

Sarah Newey, and Pear Maneechote
15 March 2024

The stench revealed the grisly secret. Wafting through the temple in southern Bangkok, the terrible smell led to the mortuary – and the grim discovery of more than 2,000 foetuses, wrapped in plastic bags and at various stages of decomposition.

The hidden remains were awaiting cremation, the final stage in an underground abortion network in Thailand’s capital. But a broken furnace disrupted the process for months, possibly longer, until the smell grew so potent it was impossible to hide.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/abortion-laws-buddhist-monks-foetus-mortuary-thailand-asia/

South Korea’s Abortion Dilemma: Legal Ambiguity Leaves Women in Limbo

By Md. Imran Wahab
March 10, 2024

The intricate predicament surrounding abortion in South Korea results from a multitude of factors involving law, politics, society, and ethics. While the Constitutional Court's decision in 2019 to declare the criminalization of abortion as unconstitutional was a noteworthy advancement for women's reproductive rights, it also recognized the importance of decriminalizing abortion and upholding women's control over their bodies. Nonetheless, the absence of concrete legislative changes following this ruling has left the legality of abortion in a state of ambiguity, causing confusion and moral quandaries for women seeking abortion procedures.

In South Korea, the issue of abortion is a complex and uncertain one, causing difficulties for women like 33-year-old Kim. Despite not wanting to get married or become a mother, Kim found herself unexpectedly pregnant and turned to the internet for information on abortion. However, the advertisements she found varied in price and she was unsure of the legal status of the procedure.

Continued: https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-15359-south-korea-s-abortion-dilemma-legal-ambiguity-leaves-women-in-limbo.html

10.03.2024

Commentary

Imran Wahab

National Health Insurance Service

South Korea Constitutional Court

South Korea Criminal Act

Abortion in S. Korea: neither illegal nor legal

Despite 2019 Constitutional Court order, revision of abortion laws remains pending in National Assembly

By Lee Jaeeun
March 7, 2024

A 33-year-old woman surnamed Kim, living in Seoul, was taken by surprise when she found out she was pregnant late last year.

With no intention of getting married or having a child on her own, she began searching for hospitals that would terminate the pregnancy for her. While searching online, Kim encountered numerous advertisements and blogs listing prices for abortions by vacuum aspiration. The prices varied according to the stage of pregnancy: 600,000 won ($450) before week 7 and 900,000 won before week 10.

Continued: https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240307050821