SEOUL: South Korea's constitutional court is to rule Thursday on the legality of a decades-old abortion ban that campaigners say endangers women, in what could be a historic decision.
South Korea is one of the few industrialised nations where abortion is illegal except for instances of rape, incest and when the mother's health is at risk. Calls to repeal the law have gained traction in recent years, but support for it is also staunch in a country that remains conservative towards female sexuality and highly influenced by evangelical Christianity.
A survey last year found one in five women who have been pregnant have had an abortion - and only one percent of them said they had a legal reason to terminate the pregnancy. In 2017, a high school student told a rally in Seoul she had been forced to end her education after having an abortion. But religious belief is widespread in South Korea, and some of its evangelical mega-churches are among those defending the ban.
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Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »