KB News Desk
A South Korean appeals court on Thursday acquitted a woman who had been convicted of murder after undergoing a late-term abortion, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove she knew the baby would be born alive and then killed by medical staff.
The Seoul High Court overturned a lower court ruling that had sentenced the woman to three years in prison, suspended for five years, over the 2024 procedure performed when she was about 36 weeks pregnant.
The court upheld the murder convictions of the hospital director and the surgeon who performed the cesarean section, though it reduced their sentences.
The hospital director was sentenced to four years in prison, down from six years, while the surgeon’s sentence was cut from four years to two and a half years. The director was also fined 1.5 million won ($1,019).
Prosecutors accused the doctors of placing the baby in a freezer after the cesarean delivery. A lower court found that the baby had been born alive and therefore qualified as a person under criminal law.
The appeals court, however, found insufficient evidence that the woman shared the doctors’ intent to kill the baby.
“(The woman) had been told that the fetus would be delivered stillborn,” the court said, adding that she likely believed the two brokers who arranged the abortion were relaying information from medical staff.
The court also rejected the argument that her signature on a form authorizing the disposal of fetal remains represented consent to the killing of a live-born baby.
“It cannot be seen as an expression of consent to the killing of a baby born alive,” the court said.
The hospital director and surgeon were found to have falsified medical records and attempted to conceal the crime. The director later issued a false stillbirth certificate, while the surgeon instructed hospital employees to give false statements, according to the ruling.
The two brokers were charged with violating the Medical Service Act for referring a patient to the hospital.
The case drew national attention after the woman posted a YouTube video describing the procedure and its 9 million won cost. The Health Ministry asked police to investigate in July 2024.
Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down the country’s abortion ban in 2019, but lawmakers have yet to enact replacement legislation.
