A 36-week pregnant YouTuber has sparked outrage by publicly sharing her abortion process. Online reactions are filled with fury, with many condemning her actions as equivalent to murder.
A post titled 36-week fetus abortion vlog on YouTube has been rapidly spreading on the internet. The post captures a YouTube vlog broadcast by a woman who was 36 weeks pregnant, documenting her abortion journey.
In the video, the woman stated, I even maxed out my credit card loan services to gather 9 million won (approx. $6,500),” adding, “What kind of life will I live from now on?”
She said, “Around March, my period stopped for a long time. When I visited an OB-GYN, they told me it was due to polycystic ovary syndrome and hormonal imbalance, so I didn’t suspect anything. I just thought I had gained a lot of weight. But when I found out I was pregnant, it was too late. Everything was miserable and hopeless.”
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition related to a hormonal imbalance in the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and ovaries. This imbalance leads to an increase in male hormone secretion in the ovaries, which results in irregular menstruation, hirsutism, obesity, and infertility. In the long term, it is associated with metabolic syndrome.
The video also includes footage of the abortion surgery. The woman shows herself in surgical attire, lying on a hospital bed, stating, “I went straight into the incision surgery.”
After the surgery, she said, “I was so hungry before sleeping. Since outside food was not allowed, I ate the kimbap I brought on the day of admission. It had been in my bag for a day, so it was a bit sour, but it was fine.” When an abortion is performed after 20 weeks of pregnancy, the abdomen is incised, the uterus is opened, and the fetus and placenta are removed. Viewers of the vlog were deeply shocked, expressing reactions like “This is truly murder. I will report this,” and “This is horrific.” Their reactions are understandable, given that the average pregnancy lasts 280 days or 40 weeks. This abortion took place just a month before the expected delivery.
In April 2019, the South Korean Constitutional Court ruled that the abortion law, which punishes women and doctors who perform abortions, was unconstitutional and ordered the amendment of related laws by December 31, 2020. South Korean government announced a legislative notice in 2020 to allow abortions up to 14 weeks of pregnancy in the revisedCriminal Act and the Mother and Child Health Act. However, the new law has not yet been established. The revised Maternal and Child Health Act is still pending in the National Assembly. Currently, there are no regulations that either punish or do not punish abortion in the law. Aborting a 36-week fetus constitutes a crime of murder. In 2021, the Supreme Court upheld the original sentence of three years and six months in prison in an appeal trial of an OB-GYN charged with murder and desecration of a corpse. This doctor was accused of trying to abort a 34-week fetus, but when the baby was born alive, it deliberately caused its death.
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