In a terrible case of doctor negligence, doctors in Seoul, South Korea performed an abortion on the wrong woman.
According to an article in The New York Times, an expectant mother went to a clinic for a routine nutritional shot and woke up to find that the doctors have given her an accidental abortion. The woman, clinic or doctors have not been identified according to police reports.
South Korean police said that the incident occurred on Wednesday, 25 September and plans to indict the doctor and nurse on charges of inflicting accidental injury are underway. However, so far no arrests have been made.
Police investigator An Chan-su declined to comment on rumours around the incident such as that the woman’s medical chat was mixed up with another woman who opted for an abortion after a miscarriage.
Currently, in South Korea, the law on abortion is that it is legal only for exceptional circumstances like rape, incest and when the mother’s health is at risk. In all other cases, it is punishable by either one year of prison or up to a 2 million won fine. So, abortions are not an absolute right for a woman yet.
South Korean recently saw a historic ruling as their 66-year-old law criminalising abortions by up to two years of jail time was overturned. Their constitutional court has given the South Korean parliament until 2020 end to revise the law.
(With inputs from The New York Times)
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