Abortion pills are currently dividing doctors and women’s rights groups in South Korea over an unusual perspective: who gets to control access to the medication following the country’s move to legalize them?
The debate comes after the South Korean government announced on September 16 its plan to launch mifepristone-based pills, sold as Mifegyne, in the first quarter of next year.
Should the policy be in full effect, women who have been pregnant for nine weeks or less will be given access to this medication.
Five-year legal vacuum fuels calls for wider access
As reported, the policy comes after the Constitutional Court’s 2019 decision to strike down South Korea’s criminal abortion ban.
President Lee Jae-myung called a Cabinet meeting in July, during which officials discussed the legalisation of Mifegyne.
France was the first country to approve of its usage in 1988 before being introduced in roughly 100 countries.
Women’s rights groups acknowledged the plan but say that there is still an obvious limit to it.
Referencing the standards of the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Korea Women’s Political Network insists the gestational limit should be up to at least 10 weeks and argues that restricting prescriptions to medical institutions for the first two years will shut out women with poor access to obstetric care or those who want to avoid disclosing their identities.
“All women who need pregnancy termination should be able to receive medical services safely and with dignity, regardless of their economic, regional or social circumstances,” the group said.
Doctors push back, citing safety and legal protection
Doctors, however, disputed this argument.
The Korean Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists stressed the importance of passing legislation in the National Assembly to address the lack of legal protection for doctors when patients experience complications from the pills.
Concerns about pharmacist-dispensed prescriptions were also brought up by an OB-GYN professor at Catholic University of South Korea’s Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital.
“I’m not opposed to the introduction and agree such drugs are needed… but pharmacists don’t perform ultrasounds or determine whether a pregnancy is ectopic. We need proper management on this issue,” Kim Mee-ran stated.
One anonymous OB-GYN went further, warning that letting patients take the drugs at home without monitoring could be dangerous given the bleeding risk involved and that some doctors may initially prefer administering Mifegyne only in inpatient settings.
She also urged action from lawmakers concerning the related legislation, emphasising the unclear legal standing of doctors on this matter without it.
“If abortion pills are provided without related laws in place, it could lead to legal problems,” she said.
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