SEOUL, South Korea (WCMH) — A doctor and nurse in South Korea are facing charges after conducting an abortion on the wrong woman.
It happened August 7 at a Seoul hospital, Korea Herald reported. The woman was in the hospital for an injection of nutritional supplements. She was six-weeks into her pregnancy.
The paper reported that a nurse mistook her for another patient, administered anesthesia, and the doctor performed the abortion. The patient was unaware of the procedure until the next day, when she returned after experiencing a bloody discharge.
“The doctor and nurse have acknowledged their fault,” a police official told CNN. They are now being accused of professional negligence for failing to confirm the patient’s identity.
Abortion is illegal in South Korea and is punishable by up to a year in prison. Exceptions are made in the case of heriditary diseases, if the fetus is threatening the life of the mother, or the pregnancy was due to rape or incest.
The country is in the process of legalizing abortion. The country’s constitutional court ruled in April that lawmakers must revise the law by December 31, 2020.
