South Korea plans to approve abortion pills by early 2027
South Korea plans to approve abortion pills for the first time by early 2027, a move the government says will make medication abortions safer and bring them under the country's healthcare system, while drawing opposition from religious groups and concerns from doctors.
The government announced Wednesday that it aims to allow medication abortions for women up to nine weeks pregnant by the first quarter of 2027. For the first two years, abortion pills would be prescribed and dispensed directly by doctors, officials said.
“Introducing medication abortion is significant because it's a step to make sure that ending pregnancy is done more safely and within the national healthcare system,” Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyong said at a news conference.
The plan involves approving a local company's application to import a two-drug combination pack containing mifepristone and misoprostol. The combination is widely used for medication abortions, including in the United States.
The move follows a 2019 landmark ruling by South Korea's Constitutional Court ordering the easing of a decades-old ban on most abortions. Abortion was subsequently decriminalized, but parliament has yet to revise related legislation amid opposition from religious and conservative groups.
The resulting legal gap has left women with limited regulated options for medication abortions, with some obtaining abortion drugs through unauthorised online channels where the safety of the medicines is not verified.
President Lee Jae Myung, a liberal, instructed officials in July to explore ways to allow use of the two-drug combination. According to the gender ministry, about 100 countries had permitted abortion pills as of 2024.
The Korea Women's Associations United welcomed the government announcement as “a first step toward supporting a safe ending of pregnancy”. The women's rights group urged authorities to make the pills more readily accessible and cover their cost under the national health insurance system.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, however, voiced “deep concerns”, saying the plan would further entrench what it described as a disregard for human lives.
The Korean Association of Obstetricians & Gynecologists said the move did not resolve several potential problems and called for legislation to address them.
The doctors' group said safeguards were needed to deal with complications such as incomplete miscarriage and heavy bleeding, and sought legal protection for doctors who prescribe abortion pills for social or economic reasons.
“We will never accept any introduction of abortion pills that does not guarantee safety of patients and legal protections of medical professionals,” the association said.
