TY - JOUR
T1 - A critical assessment of abortion law and its implementation in South Korea
AU - Kim, Hyosin
AU - Bae, Hyun A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2015S1A3A2046566) and the Ewha Law School Research Grant of 2016.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Asian Center for Women's Studies, Ewha Womans University.
PY - 2018/1/2
Y1 - 2018/1/2
N2 - Abortion is generally prohibited by law in South Korea, except for induced terminations administered within 24 weeks of pregnancy because of medical, genetic, and ethical reasons. This study provides a historical background of the development of abortion law in Korea and discusses specific provisions regulating the procedure and prenatal sex testing under the Criminal Act, Mother and Child Law, and Medical Services Act. Through a critical review of current laws, this paper attempts to explain the legal, social, and cultural factors underlying the discrepancy between restrictive laws and enforcement of the regulation. The current laws need to be amended to reflect changes in medical knowledge and contemporary social values and to protect women’s human rights and health.
AB - Abortion is generally prohibited by law in South Korea, except for induced terminations administered within 24 weeks of pregnancy because of medical, genetic, and ethical reasons. This study provides a historical background of the development of abortion law in Korea and discusses specific provisions regulating the procedure and prenatal sex testing under the Criminal Act, Mother and Child Law, and Medical Services Act. Through a critical review of current laws, this paper attempts to explain the legal, social, and cultural factors underlying the discrepancy between restrictive laws and enforcement of the regulation. The current laws need to be amended to reflect changes in medical knowledge and contemporary social values and to protect women’s human rights and health.
KW - South Korea
KW - abortion laws
KW - prenatal sex testing
KW - unenforced regulatory laws
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042166676&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/12259276.2018.1427534
DO - 10.1080/12259276.2018.1427534
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85042166676
SN - 1225-9276
VL - 24
SP - 71
EP - 87
JO - Asian Journal of Women's Studies
JF - Asian Journal of Women's Studies
IS - 1
ER -