(Tokyo) – A South Korean government proposal would allow medication abortion in South Korea in 2027 , but overly restrictive regulations will continue to impair the right of women and girls to safe and affordable abortion services, Human Rights Watch said today. National Assembly members have questioned government officials about the plan during a parliamentary audit.

Seven years after South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled the country’s decades-long abortion ban unconstitutional , effectively decriminalizing abortion and ordering legal reform by the end of 2020, the government has yet to amend the law to explicitly guarantee abortion rights. The government’s new proposal would finally establish a regulatory framework for medication abortion using Mifegymiso, a combination of Misoprostol and Mifepristone recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the safest and most effective regimen.…