Should abortion be legalized? Constitutional court to decide on decades-long law criminalizing abortion

헌재, 낙태죄 위헌 여부 11일 선고 확정…위헌결정 나오나In the Republic of Korea,.. abortion has been illegal since the mid-20th century.The criminal code calls for prison or fines for those who perform abortions... and the women who procure them.But this week, there's a chance that the Constitutional Court might overturn the law.Oh Soo-young reports. South Korea's Constitutional Court will make a landmark ruling this week on whether women should have the right to end their pregnancies.The nine-member panel will deliver its verdict on Thursday,... regarding the 1953 law criminalising women and medical workers who carry out abortions.Abortion is currently illegal in Korea, under the Criminal Act which imposes a maximum fine of 2 million won or a year in prison for intentional miscarriages.Physicians are permitted to carry out abortions,... only in the case of rape or incest,... or if the pregnancy could jeopardise the mother or baby's health. However, abortion is believed to be widely practiced behind closed doors in Korea. One in five women who experienced pregnancy last year were found to have terminated their pregnancies,... according to a survey last September and October by the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.Most of the terminations are carried out in medical clinics... but a growing number of women are also acquiring abortion pills illegally from abroad.This has generated concern about the health and safety of such procedures,... on top of the ongoing ethical debate over a woman's right to choose and the sanctity of life.The issue was previously raised at the Constitutional Court in 2012,... with the judges ruling that the anti-abortion law was constitutional,... recognising a fetus as a separate entity with the right to life.However,... many in legal circles expect the panel of judges to deliver the opposite verdict this time around,... given the continued calls to repeal the anti-abortion law.Six out of nine judges must rule against the law to declare it unconstitutional.Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.