Sim Sang-jung: "Women's bodies are not policy tools for childbirth"

One-Year Policy Meeting on the Abolition of Abortion Law
"Increasing Birth Rate Is Not the Goal of National Policy"
"It Should Be Treated as a Result of Policy"

Justice Party presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung is announcing the healthcare policy 'Sim Sang-jung Care' at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 29th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Sim Sang-jung, the presidential candidate of the Justice Party, stated on the 11th regarding the abolition of the abortion law, "It clearly confirms that a woman's body is no longer a policy tool for childbirth." Candidate Sim mentioned "reproductive rights," saying, "Whether to have children or not, with whom and how to have them, and how many to have should be guaranteed as a free decision of the individual citizen."

On the same day, at a policy briefing titled "The Rights to Sexuality and Reproduction in South Korea after the Abolition of the Abortion Law" held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, Candidate Sim said, "It has been one year since the abolition of the abortion law. Many people said the country would collapse without the abortion law, but in the end, nothing significant happened."

He especially stated, "I want to make it clear that increasing the birth rate should not be a goal of national policy but treated as a result." He also said that the younger generation has much more information than previous generations and can make various independent judgments, so both the right not to have children and the right to have children must be respected.

Ryu Ho-jeong, member of the Justice Party, Sim Sang-jung, presidential candidate, and Yeo Young-guk, party leader (from left), are posing for a commemorative photo holding the new PI and sub-colors at the Justice Party PI sub-color unveiling briefing held at the National Assembly on the 17th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Candidate Sim said, "Although the realm of sexuality has been socially and culturally classified as an area of individual freedom, in fact, it has been controlled for a long time according to the interests of the state and politics," citing the example of the state openly encouraging abortion while enforcing birth control from the 1960s to the 1980s. Candidate Sim questioned, "Back then, the abortion law was effectively nullified, but after the 1990s, when low birth rates became a problem, wasn't the dusty abortion law revived?"

He emphasized, "The recent Constitutional Court ruling clearly confirmed that a woman's body is no longer a policy tool for childbirth," adding, "No longer can the control policies of the past authoritarian era make the lives of citizens happy in the era of advanced countries."

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