Supreme Court Confirms Prison Sentence for Doctor Performing Abortion at 34 Weeks Pregnant... "No Guilt for Abortion on Medical Request"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A gynecologist who killed a fetus at 34 weeks of pregnancy born during an abortion surgery has been sentenced to imprisonment.

On the 14th, the Supreme Court Division 1 (Presiding Justice Lee Gitaek) announced that it upheld the original sentence of 3 years and 6 months imprisonment in the appeal trial of Doctor A, who was indicted on charges of murder, abortion by a medical professional, corpse mutilation, and violation of the Medical Service Act. While guilt was recognized for charges including murder, the charge of abortion by a medical professional was acquitted following the Constitutional Court's decision of constitutional inconsistency regarding the abortion law provisions.

In March 2019, A was tried on charges of killing a fetus at 34 weeks of pregnancy during an abortion surgery performed by cesarean section. The baby, weighing 2.1 kg, was born outside the mother's body and was alive, crying, but A was investigated to have intentionally caused the baby's death.

Additionally, he was also indicted for freezing the baby's corpse, handing it over to a disposal company as if it were medical waste to be incinerated, and falsifying medical records to make it appear as if the fetus had already been stillborn and removed from the mother.

The trial focused on the Constitutional Court's April 2019 decision of constitutional inconsistency regarding the abortion law provisions. At that time, the Constitutional Court ordered the revision of Article 269 Paragraph 1 'Self-Abortion Crime' and Article 270 Paragraph 1 'Abortion Crime by Medical Professionals' of the Criminal Act by the end of 2020, but since the National Assembly did not submit a revision bill, these provisions automatically lost effect from January 1 of this year.

The first trial court found all charges against A guilty and sentenced him to 3 years and 6 months imprisonment with a 3-year suspension of medical license. The court also rejected A’s claim that the charge of abortion by a medical professional should be acquitted according to the Constitutional Court’s decision.

The court at that time stated, “Since the legislative deadline (end of 2020) set by the constitutional inconsistency decision has not yet arrived and the related criminal law provisions have not been revised, it is reasonable to consider that the act of aborting a fetus far beyond the decision period (around 22 weeks) for protecting fetal life rights set by the Constitutional Court is subject to criminal punishment.”

On the other hand, the second trial court acquitted the charge of abortion by a medical professional. The appellate court pointed out, “It is difficult to justify the continued application of a criminal law provision already declared unconstitutional by the constitutional inconsistency decision from the time of sentencing until legislative improvement.” However, the remaining charges were recognized as guilty, and a sentence of 3 years and 6 months imprisonment was imposed.

The Supreme Court also agreed with this judgment. The court stated, “The original court did not err in its understanding of the effect of the Constitutional Court’s constitutional inconsistency decision,” and dismissed all appeals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.