A Study on Law Amendment of Abortion through Review of Argumentation Structure in Abortion Clause of Criminal Law. (English)

On April 11, 2019, the Constitutional Court ruled that Article 269 (1) of the crime of self-abortion and Article 270 (1) of the crime of abortion in the conduct of business violate the pregnant woman's right to self-determination. Since then, the National Assembly has been obligated to legislate for improvement until December 31, 2020, but the government-proposed amendment was submitted to the National Assembly on November 25, 2020, and Articles 269 (1) and 270 (1) of the Criminal Code have ceased to be effective from January 1, 2021. The Constitutional Court ruled that the degree of protection can be changed from when the fetus can survive independently of the mother on condition that fundamental rights of fetus, and to ban a whole abortion during the decision period (from implantation to 22 weeks before the fetus can leave the mother and survive independently) goes against the proportionality. The main argument of the fundamental rights of the fetus is the continuity argument, which has the problem that early embryos, eventually sperm and eggs, can be interpreted as the subject of the right to life. In addition, it has already been confirmed through the Constitutional Court that it is not possible to protect the life of the fetus only by recognizing the right to life of the fetus, and that protection is possible if the necessity of protecting the life of the fetus is fully recognized. When legal protection measures are taken according to the need to protect the fetus' life without recognizing the right to life of the fetus, administrative sanctions for violations of counseling procedures within 22 weeks of pregnancy, and criminal sanctions should be introduced after 22 weeks of pregnancy, including social and economic reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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