[Anchor]

Seven years after the Constitutional Court ruled the punishment for abortion unconstitutional, the government is pushing to officially introduce abortion pills. The use of the medication is expected to be permitted for pregnancies of up to nine weeks, as early as next year.

Reporter Jeong Banseok has the details.

[Reporter]
The government held a national policy coordination meeting today (16th) and announced that it will officially pursue the introduction of abortion pills.

This comes seven years after the Constitutional Court ruled that punishing abortion was unconstitutional.

[Han Sung-sook / Prime Minister: Moving forward, we intend to discuss measures to introduce medical abortion drugs in phases for pregnancies of nine weeks or less.]

Until now, abortion pills such as Mifegyne have failed to receive government approval on the grounds that alternative legislation had not been enacted, leaving women to rely on dangerous medications.

[Cabinet Meeting (in July): By leaving them outside the law, the government may evade responsibility, but the public is driven into danger.]

The Ministry of Government Legislation opened the way for the introduction last month by issuing an interpretation that abortion pills can be approved even before a law revision.

The government plans to allow the use of abortion pills strictly for early pregnancies of up to nine weeks. For the first two years, prescriptions and dispensing will be conducted together at hospitals, after which it will be expanded to a system where doctors prescribe and pharmacies dispense.

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, oral abortion pills were permitted in 101 countries worldwide as of 2024.

[Won Min-kyung / Minister of Gender Equality and Family: This is significant in that it improves upon the situation where a practical national management system was absent following the abolition of the crime of abortion, and ensures that abortions can be performed more safely under the national medical system.]

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated that it will thoroughly review the safety, efficacy, and quality of abortion pills and do its utmost to introduce the medication within the first quarter of next year.

(Video Editing: Kim Ho-jin)