First public discussion of abortion in South Korea

Dr. Choi Anna and her colleague Dr. Shim Sang-duk are trying to make a public discussion on the ethics of abortion, a currently widespread, illegal, and never-talked-about issue. Dr. Choi and Dr. Shim say that before they stopped performing abotions in September, they were performing about 30 a month, which is twice the amount of babies they delivered each month. They formed a group, Gynob, which has called on doctors to discuss whether or not they have performed illegal abortions and also developed an organization, Pro-Life doctors, to discourage women form having abortions and report clinics who practice illegally. They are not trying to solve the problem of a law that is not enforced by making the law less strict, but rather by eliminating abortions altogether. This is unusual for South Korea, because abortions are widespread and do not have as much emotional or religious significance as the West, and also because public discussion of "family issues" is not encouraged. The government is now trying to stop abortions to raise the fertility rate, but is having difficulty because doctors are very unwilling to give up their illegal, cash payments for abortions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/world/asia/06korea.html?pagewanted=1&ref=world

By: Sam Lent