She claimed she aborted her baby at nine months. In this country, there’s no law against that

Seoul CNN —

A South Korean vlogger who claimed to have terminated her pregnancy at 36 weeks is being investigated for murder in a case that’s prompted horror in South Korea and raised urgent questions about why the country has no abortion laws.

Seoul National Police began investigating the woman in July at the request of the South Korean government, after she posted a video to YouTube purportedly documenting her experience of getting an abortion, police told CNN.

Abortions past 24 weeks are banned in many jurisdictions, or reserved for very exceptional cases, such as fetal anomalies or when the mother’s health is at risk.

But in South Korea, there are no laws governing when, where or how abortions can take place – and there haven’t been for almost four years.

It’s a policy vacuum that experts say not only opens the door to potential malpractice but also hinders access to safe abortions, with women and doctors forced to navigate a state of legal uncertainty.

In a joint statement, a coalition of 11 South Korean women’s organizations and NGOs slammed the government for pursuing women who terminate pregnancies rather than improving access to abortion care.

“This is nothing short of a pathetic and serious attempt to evade responsibility and shift blame,” the statement said.

Protesters hold placards reading 'Abolish punishment for abortion' as they protest South Korean abortion laws in Gwanghwamun plaza in Seoul on July 7, 2018. A 2019 court ruling decriminalizing abortion was a major win for reproductive rights advocates, seen here protesting in Seoul on July 7, 2018.

A legal hole

For more than six decades, performing an abortion in South Korea was a crime punishable by up to two years in prison, with limited