A South Korean appeals court has acquitted a woman previously convicted of murdering a baby she delivered in a hospital. This ruling overturns an earlier decision that had sentenced her to a three-year suspended jail term. The case has brought renewed attention to South Korea's ambiguous abortion laws, which lack clear regulations on how late into a pregnancy terminations can occur.
The woman, identified only by her surname Kwon, had sought to terminate her pregnancy at 36 weeks. Prosecutors initially argued the baby was born alive and subsequently killed. The appeals court, however, found that Kwon might not have known the baby would be born alive, based on information provided by a broker. This finding was central to her acquittal.
This case fits into a broader narrative of legal uncertainty in South Korea following the 2019 decriminalization of abortion. The Constitutional Court recommended that parliament amend the law to allow abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. However, subsequent legislative efforts faced gridlock due to opposition from conservative lawmakers, leaving a regulatory void when the ban officially lifted in 2021. This lack of clear guidelines has created challenges for both pregnant individuals and medical professionals.
Heekyoung Cho, Executive Director of Amnesty International Korea, welcomed Kwon's acquittal. She stated that the void in South Korea's abortion law has "left pregnant people without clear legal protections and access to essential reproductive healthcare." Cho urged the government to implement measures that remove barriers to safe abortion and provide proper regulations for abortion service provision.
The implications of this acquittal are significant for future abortion-related cases in South Korea. It underscores the urgent need for the government to establish clear legal frameworks for abortion services. Decision-makers will likely face increased pressure to address the regulatory vacuum, potentially leading to new legislative proposals. This case will continue to influence public discourse and policy debates on reproductive rights and healthcare access in the country.
Kwon had testified earlier in the trial that she only discovered her pregnancy at seven months. She sought an abortion due to unstable income and fears of birth defects, having consumed alcohol and smoked during her pregnancy. The initial sentencing court had acknowledged the lack of support available for late-stage pregnancies, exercising leniency in Kwon's case. While Kwon was acquitted, the appeals court upheld murder convictions for two doctors involved, reducing their sentences from four years to two-and-a-half years for the surgeon, and from six years to four years for the hospital director. Both doctors admitted to killing the baby.