Committee: United Nations Population Fund

Topic: Encouraging the act of Pro-choice from a global stance

Country: South Korea
Delegate: M. Temuulen
The term abortion describes a procedure in which a pregnancy is
ended by the expulsion or removal of a uterus during the first 24 weeks of gestation. The act
of abortion was known since ancient times and was widely accepted as morally right due to
their limited understanding of Science and Biology. But the legalization of Abortion in
recent times in western countries such as The United States Of America has a sparked a
worldwide debate on the issue of legalization of abortions. Between 2010-2014, the
Guttmacher Institute estimates that approximately 56 million abortions occurred each year
around the globe. This is up from an estimated 50 million abortions per year between 1990-
1994. An estimated 64% of all global abortions (35.8 million) occur in Asia. This number is
expected to be higher as most abortions, legal or illegal, goes unreported.
Many organisation such as “Planned Parenthood” believe that abortion should be legalized and
be considered a human right. There has been significant debate in the UN council on the issue of
abortions. In the draft of the 115th session prepared by Yuval Shany and Nigel Rodley pushed for
a change in the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 6” to not
criminalize or apply criminal sanctions to unmarried woman seeking abortion or against
physicians assisting them in doing so. This draft is in direct conflict with the article 6, which is a
"supreme right" from which no derogation can be permitted, and must be interpreted widely.
Article 6 recognizes the individual's "inherent right to life" and requires it to be protected by law.
The National Human Rights Commission, the most prominent national advocacy institution for
human rights since its founding in 2002, has not addressed the issue of abortion, only noting that
it was a controversial issue in the 'Right to Life' section of its 2007 National Action Plan.
In the country of South Korea the government has criminalized the act of abortion under the
1953 Criminal Code. This was revised by the Maternal and Child Health Law of 1973, which
allowed a physician to perform abortion if 1) the biological mother or father suffers from certain
hereditary or communicable diseases, 2) if the pregnancy was a result from rape or incest or 3)
the further development of the pregnancy jeopardizes the woman’s health. Even though the act
of abortions is illegal, it wasn’t heavily enforced up until recent years due to the decreasing
fertility rates of the residents. The Ministry of Health and Welfare estimated that 169,000
induced abortions were performed in 2010. Other researchers, including Park Myung-bae of Pai
Chai University, estimate that there may be as many as 500,000 or 1 million abortions per year.
There is an active debate going on at both the international and domestic level regarding the
human rights implications of sex-selective abortions in Korea and the human rights implications
of an over-reliance on abortion. Culturally in South Korea there is a preference on male children
over female due to traditional patriarchal family system typical of Confucian societies.
The Delegate of South Korea believes that the broad definitions of the aforementioned Article 6
for human being and whether a fetus is considered a human being is to blame for the
unsuccessful and conflicting resolutions toward the issue of legalizing Abortions. A clearer and
more specific definition will allow the debate of legalizing abortion to be less confusing for all
parties involved. Better sex education, practice of safe sex and more accessible and cheaper
contraceptives will allow the unwanted pregnancy numbers to decline resulting in less abortions
overall. The delegate is open to suggestions and points on regards to legalization of abortions if
proven that they are beneficial to society, but until then the delegate believes the legalization of
abortion to not be the resolution due to ethics.