GESTIÓN EN SALUD PÚBLICA: South Korean doctors “protest” new abortion regulations

lunes, 3 de septiembre de 2018

South Korean doctors “protest” new abortion regulations

South Korean doctors “protest” new abortion regulations

Bioedge

South Korean doctors “protest” new abortion regulations

by Xavier Symons | 2 Sep 2018 | 2 comments

Almost two thousand obstetrics and gynecology doctors in South Korea have protested tough new Ministry of Health and Welfare abortion regulations by refusing to perform abortions for women.

"We flatly refuse to carry out abortions, which the government has defined as an immoral medical action," the Korean College of Obstetrics & Gynecologists said in a statement in reponse to the regulations.

The new government sanctions, which were released last month, threaten to ban doctors from practice for a month if they are found to have performed an illegal abortion. The regulations include abortion among a list of “immoral medical actions”, together with sexual assault and ghost surgery (where one doctor substitutes for another without the patient’s knowledge).

Abortion is illegal in South Korea except in cases of rape, incest, genetic disorders or where the pregnancy would threaten a woman’s health.

Lee Young-Kyu, vice-chairman of the Korean College of Obstetrics & Gynecologists, said that the ban was “simply appalling”. Patients who seek abortions were often poor or underage, she said, adding: “If women were forced to give birth in these circumstances, it puts a question mark on whether that is moral”.

The country’s Constitutional Court is currently reviewing the near total ban on abortion, and is expected to make a ruling later this year.

Why do I keep screwing things up? This is, IMHO, the first question of moral philosophy. I know what the decent, sensible and right option is, and yet I choose the nasty, mad and wrong option. Bad ideas, said Plato. Bad education, said Rousseau. Desire, said Buddha. Capitalism, said Marx. Nature red in tooth and claw, said Darwin. Myself, I’m partial to the notion of Original Sin, which, as G.K. Chesterton observed, is the only Christian doctrine which can be proved by reading the newspaper.

The second question is how do I stop screwing things up? Theoretically, this can be solved without answering the first question. A number of bioethicists believe that we could live the good life if we spiked the water supply with a kind of morality fluoride. This sounds a bit too much like living as a Delta in Brave New World for my taste, but their concern is preventing very bad hombres from destroying the world. Perhaps the loss of a wide range of human emotions would be worth it.

However, there are other considerations – should we force people to drink the water? Should we tell them that their water has been spiked? All interesting questions – read all about in this week’s newsletter below.