After the decision of the Constitutional Court, amendments to the Criminal Act and the
Mother and Child Health Act were proposed several times in the 21st National Assembly,
but there is a sharp difference of opinion on each issue. Due to the failure to reach a social
consensus in a situation where different demands and criticisms from all different groups
continue, amendments to abortion and artificial abortion are all pending in the National
Assembly as of the end of 2022.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
recommended the Korean government to decriminalize abortion and provide services to
manage complications from unsafe abortion (2011),103) and called for a review of policies
related to women's sexual and reproductive health (2018),104) even before the abolition of
the crime of abortion in Korea. The NHRCK also mentioned the right to safe termination of
pregnancy is threatened due to a legislative vacuum in the 4th National Human Rights Policy
Framework Plan (2023-2027) in July 2022, and it included the need for the government to
take necessary measures for safe termination of pregnancy.
B) Conflicting Opinions Over Legislation for the Crime of Abortion and Legal and
Institutional Vacuum
While the crime of abortion under the Criminal Act has been determined to be
unconstitutional and has lost its effect, the issue surrounding the substance of the alternative
legislation is how to determine the period and reason for abortion or termination of
pregnancy. The government draft105) submitted by the Ministry of Justice to the National
Assembly in November 2020 states that abortion is fully permitted until the 14th week of
pregnancy, and allowed between 15th~24th weeks only for social and economic reasons. On
the other hand, some of the ruling party lawmakers have proposed a bill to allow abortions up
to six weeks of pregnancy and extend abortions for social and economic reasons to 10 to 20
weeks,106) and some members of the opposition party have proposed an amendment to the
103) Final opinion of the committee on the elimination of discrimination against women on the 7th report of Korea (2011)
104) Final opinion of the committee on the elimination of discrimination against women on the 8th report of Korea (2018)
105) Draft submitted by the government, Bill No. 2105733, Nov. 25, 2020.
106) Co-sponsored by Rep. Cho, Hae-jin and 16 others, Bill No. 2105295, Nov. 13, 2020.
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