A euphoric smile spread across the face of an activist, who goes by the name Jisoo, as she announced in a trembling voice, "It's ruled unconstitutional!"
South Korea's Constitutional Court on Thursday struck down the country's laws prohibiting abortion, a landmark decision challenging the 66-year-old ban that had become increasingly unpopular in recent years.
After the announcement of the ruling, an uproarious cheer and cries of relief broke out from a couple hundred protesters outside the courthouse. A coalition of women's rights activists, legal and medical experts and feminist scholars declared victory, after years of campaigning for the laws' repeal.
Hundreds of others protesters, many from Christian evangelical groups, opposed ending the ban.
South Korea, where Catholics and Protestants outnumber Buddhists, is one of several countries in Asia that either ban abortion outright or limit it — including the heavily Catholic Philippines, predominantly Buddhist Laos and Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Under Articles 269 and 270 of South Korea's Criminal Act, women who intentionally end pregnancy are punishable with up to a year in prison, and doctors who perform abortion can face up to two years in jail. Only a few exceptions are allowed, such as pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, serious threat to a mother's health, or the expectation that a child will be born with severe deformity.
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