South Korea’s court decriminalize abortion in landmark judgment

South Korea’s Constitutional Court said on Thursday a law criminalizing abortion was unconstitutional, a landmark ruling that will overturn a ban on abortion that had been in place since 1953.

Seven out of nine judges ruled that outlawing abortion was unconstitutional -- votes from six judges were needed to overturn the ban.

The court said in a statement the outright ban on abortion, as well as a law that made doctors who conduct abortions with the woman’s consent liable to criminal charges, were both unconstitutional.

However, the court said the current law would remain in effect until the end of next year, after which it will be scrapped.

Previously, women who had abortions in South Korea could face up to a year in prison and can be fined up to two million won ($1,780), while doctors or healthcare workers who helped terminate a pregnancy could be jailed for up to two years.

The court had previously upheld the abortion law in 2012 in a closely divided decision, dividing the eight justices evenly.

“The law criminalizing a woman who undergoes abortion of her own will goes beyond the minimum needed to achieve the legislative purpose and limits the right of self-determination of the woman who has become pregnant,” the court said in its ruling.

South Korea’s ban on abortion dates from 1953, when the country’s criminal law was first enacted after the 1950-1953 Korean War and had not changed materially since.

There are exemptions, with current law allowing abortions within 24 weeks of becoming pregnant for medical purposes such as a hereditary disease or the pregnancy causing grave danger to the health of the mother, or in the case of pregnancy through rape.

“If the case does not fall under an exemption, the law forces the pregnant woman to maintain the pregnancy completely and uniformly without exception even in cases where there are circumstances causing conflicts about abortion due to diverse, widespread societal and economic reasons,” the court said.

The court’s ruling reflects the trend toward decriminalizing abortion, as the number of actual cases where abortion was criminally punished had been falling.