[Anchor]

We have reported to you several times that seven years have passed since the Constitutional Court ruled the punishment for the crime of abortion unconstitutional, yet women have been forced to take risks because abortion pills remain unapproved. It has now been learned that the government has recently set a policy toward approving these medications.

Reporter Park Ha-jeong investigated the government's specific moves to supplement the institutional framework.

[Reporter]

Some obtain and take drugs of unknown ingredients through social media,

[Seller : Another high school student bought them, and after about two or three weeks, it all worked (abortion).]

Others even receive anti-cancer injections used for leukemia treatment, which carry the risk of side effects.

[Nurse : What you can do with an injection is that the gestational sac must not be visible.]

This is the reality that South Korean women must endure in 2026 when trying to terminate a pregnancy.

This is because alternative legislation enabling medical abortion through pills has not been enacted, even seven years after the Constitutional Court's decision that penalizing abortion was unconstitutional.

Citing this reason, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has also refrained from approving abortion pills like Mifegyne, which are legally sold overseas.

[President Lee Jae-myung (Cabinet Meeting (in July)) : By leaving them neglected outside the law, the government might evade responsibility, but the public is put in danger.]

Subsequently, the Ministry of Government Legislation issued an interpretation last month stating that abortion pills can be approved even before a law revision, and it has been confirmed that the government has decided to permit the use of abortion pills limited to early pregnancy within nine weeks.

In the case of Mifegyne, clinical trial results have been reported showing an abortion success rate of 94.9% to 97.3% within nine weeks of pregnancy.

Regarding pharmacists, considering that the punishment for the crime of abortion has not been abolished, a method where hospitals handle both prescription and dispensing internally for a period of two years is being reviewed.

[Lee Jae-kwan / Chairman of the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology : In-hospital dispensing is necessary for safe management. The point of whether it should be 9 weeks or 10 weeks lies in finding the optimal intersection between how to safely administer treatment and patient accessibility.]

While opposition from religious circles remains a variable, the medical community maintains that safety measures must be strengthened, such as limiting prescriptions to obstetrics and gynecology specialists.

(Video Editing: Jeon Min-gyu, Design: Lee Ga-jin)