Constitutional Court: The law that punishes abortion must be changed
The rule of 1953 prohibits the killing of the unborn in almost all cases. The government called to review it before the end of next year. The Court states it is unconstitutional to punish doctors. Card. Yeom before the sentence: "Welcome every life and improve social assistance".
Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Constitutional Court of South Korea declared this morning that the current abortion law is inconsistent with the Constitution and has requested a revision. The court ruled that an absolute ban is contrary to the Charter and called for a legislative amendment that partially allows the legalization of the practice, in the early stages of pregnancy.
The sentence comes 66 years after the approval of the law, which in most cases prohibits the suppression of the life of the unborn. South Korea is one of the few industrialized nations where the procedure is allowed only for cases of rape, incest and when the mother's health is at risk. The court also ruled that it is against the constitution to punish doctors for performing the procedure, ordering the government to review the relevant law by the end of next year.
At the moment, women who undergo the procedure can be imprisoned for a year and fined, while doctors performing the surgery can be sentenced to two years in prison. The Constitutional Court had ruled in favor of the law in 2012, stating that abortion "would as a practice would become out of control", if it were not punished.
Card Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, archbishop of Seoul, last month reiterated Catholic doctrine in defense of life. Together with thousands of young people and religious leaders, the prelate took part in the Youth Gathering for Life, held last March 16 in the South Korean capital. The event was organized by the Committee for Family and Life of the South Korean Bishops' Conference (CBK) together with March for Life Korea. The cardinal had declared that every human being "has a sacred and inalienable dignity, and life is inviolable from the moment of its conception".
The archbishop called on society to "welcome every life as it is from the moment of conception, under the responsibility of both the father and the mother. Furthermore, given that every life is under the common responsibility of our society, we should try to improve the social assistance system to help parents generate and raise their children ”.
For the first time, in January the growth rate of the South Korean population fell below 0.1% and the average age of citizens over 42 years, according to the latest report from the Ministry of the Interior and Security. As evidence of the gradual aging of the population, the population aged between 0 and 14 represents 12.8% of the total, while that aged over 65 is 14.8%.
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