Abstract
Prior to 1973 legal abortion in the Republic of Korea was limited by law and judicial decisions to narrow medical indications. However, the law was not enforced, and abortion could easily be obtained from physicians who performed the procedure in their own private clinics. Because of lack of enforcement, large segments of the general public were unaware of the legal status of abortion. In a survey of the general population conducted in 1971, for example, three of five respondents in Seoul did not know that abortion was, in general, illegal; this figure applies to respondents who reported having had an abortion as well as those who had not.1 In 1973, legislation was adopted authorizing termination of pregnancy on medical, eugenic, and juridical indications.2 Whether this legislation has had any effect on actual practice is not known.
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References
Hong SB, Watson WB. The Increasing Utilization of Induced Abortion in Korea. Seoul: Korea University Press, 1976, p. 22.
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© 1987 Sarah L. Tietze
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Hong, Sb. (1987). Survey of Abortion Providers in Seoul, Korea. In: Tietze, S.L., Lincoln, R. (eds) Fertility Regulation and the Public Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4702-9_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4702-9_18
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