모자보건법 제14조 '인공임신중절수술의 허용한계' 개정 방향*

Since its enactment in 1973 the Mother and Child Health Law in Korea has not properly reflected the rapid social changes that have taken place in Korea and has been enforced without appropriate legislative amendments. According to Henshaw and Simon, Korea posted a 19.6% rate of abortion, which is the highest among OECD countries. In Chapter 27 of the Criminal Law, established in 1953, before the passage of the Mother and Child Health Law, abortion was designated as a crime and was subject to punishment without exception. Although the Mother and Child Health Law has been revised six times, including an extensive amendment in 1986, Article 14 of the Law has not been revised due to possible ethical and social controversies. Accordingly, the Ministry of Health & Welfare and the Medical Law and Ethics Research Center at Yonsei University began studying an amendment of Article 14 in September 2007. These groups prepared an amendment bill for Article 14 based on existing research into the policies on abortion in other countries and ensured that the bill fully reflects the opinions of different social groups in Korea. This article summarizes the problem with Article 14 of the Mother and Child Health Law and the proposed amendments to it.