On Wednesday, a South Korean judge sentenced two men to four and six years in prison, respectively, for their roles in the death of a 36-week-old baby who was delivered by caesarian section, placed in a freezer and left to die.
The mother, identified only by her surname, Kwon, received a three-year suspended jail sentence.
In January, Korea’s Supreme Prosecutors’ Office sought a 10-year prison sentence for the hospital director and six-year terms for Kwon and the surgeon who delivered the baby.
“However, the judge said the legal uncertainty surrounding abortion in South Korea was taken into account during sentencing,” according to Marti Stelling of the Daily Mail. “Kwon had lacked access to clear legal guidance or support to navigate a late-stage pregnancy, the court noted.”
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Stelling added, “While describing the crime as serious and deserving of a harsh penalty, the judge said leniency was exercised in light of the limited social support available to women in similar circumstances. She [Kwon] told the court she did not know the procedure would be carried out in that manner”.
The public learned of the case in June 2024 when Kwon uploaded the video saying she had received an abortion at 36 weeks, considered full-term under medical guidelines,” Song Seung-hyun reported for the Korea Herald. “Police found that the child was still alive when it was removed, and the hospital director and surgeon then allegedly placed the newborn under a surgical drape and put it into a freezer, where it died.”
“During the trial, both the hospital director and the surgeon admitted to killing the baby and were taken into custody immediately after the verdict was delivered,” the BBC reported.
“The hospital had allegedly received a total of 1.4 billion won [roughly $950,000] to perform abortions on more than 500 patients, prosecutors said. Their patients, like Kwon, had been introduced to the hospital through brokers.”
Kwon, who was described as in her twenties, “told the court she had discovered her pregnancy only seven months in and sought an abortion because she had no stable income,” Stelling reported.
The status of abortion has been in continued state of flux since 2019 when the Constitutional Court struck down the country’s strongly pro-life law and gave lawmakers until the end of 2020 to revise the law.
“In 2020, the government proposed legislation allowing abortions up to 14 weeks, or up to 24 weeks in certain cases, such as health risks or pregnancies resulting from rape,” The BBC reported.” The bill stalled in parliament and “When the ban was formally lifted in 2021, no replacement legislation had been enacted, leaving South Korea without a comprehensive legal framework regulating abortion.”
LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. He frequently writes Today’s News and Views — an online opinion column on pro-life issues.
