66 YEARS OF ABORTION BAN IN KOREA FINALLY COMES TO AN END
(Reference: CNN)
After 66 years, the abortion ban in South Korea has been lifted; a victory for major pro-choice advocates. Seven out of nine judges at court has ruled that the ban of abortion was an unconstitutional choice; only six votes were compulsory to repeal the ban. Lawmakers were given a timeline until 2020 to amend the abortion law but spontaneous abortions after 20 weeks will remain illegal. Before the ban was lifted or brought to light, women who undergoes abortions in South Korea could be sentenced to prison for a year or a fine of 2 million won (RM7322.30) will be made. Meanwhile, doctors or healthcare workers who are involved with the abortion will be sentenced to prison for 2 years as it is a violation of law.
A survey was made by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs as they asked three-quarter of women who were around the age of 15 to 44 years old about the law abortion. These respondents consider the law was inequitable and 20% of these respondents had stated that they had an abortion despite it being illegal in the country. However, the abortion ban received backlashes and pushback from pro-life advocates, especially religious groups, which some have links to US anti-abortion campaigns. There were different voices coming from two sides as pro-choice advocates believe that it's their body so it should be their choice while pro-life advocates has a deep connection with religion; pro life advocates usually believe that a foetus in the womb should not be aborted in a harsh way as it is innocent.
Different women have different opinions when it comes to their body especially when a living human is in their womb. This is not about whether it's right or wrong but a certain perspective should be respected either ways. Half of these pro-choice advocates believed that they do not want the baby when they have enough children for the household; this is also to lessen their burden and their finance as having lots of children would increase their debt. In other cases, some countries legalised abortion as they want to control the population size so it does not go overpopulate.
However, pro-life advocates have their own belief especially when it is affiliated with their religion. Their belief go against the pro-choice advocates' belief; pro-life advocates generally argue that a foetus in a womb deserves the right to live since they do have beating heart just like adult humans too. There are also other multiple cases where this would be an exception such as rape cases, incest, severe fatal defects or when a woman's life is at risk; it is a woman's right to choose since it is their body, it's their choice.
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