Women’s Groups Demand Decision on Abortion Pill Approval by Sept. 28

Women’s and medical groups are giving South Korea’s drug regulator until Sept. 28 to approve abortion medication, warning that 100 people will file complaints if the deadline passes without a decision.

The Network for Everyone’s Right to Safe Abortion, made up of 30 organizations including Share, the Center for Sexual Rights and Reproductive Justice, the Association of Physicians for Humanism and the Korean Pharmacists for a Healthy Society, announced the plan at a news conference outside the Seoul Regional Food and Drug Safety Office on Sept. 2.

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Medicines must enter the regulatory system so that accurate instructions and precautions can be provided, adverse reactions can be managed, and doctors and pharmacists can support safe use when necessary. That is why a medicine regulatory agency exists.

The network designated Sept. 28, the International Safe and Legal Abortion Action Day, as the approval deadline for mifepristone, commonly known as Mifegyne. It said that if the Food and Drug Safety Ministry delays administrative procedures through Sept. 29, the 100 complainants will visit the ministry and demand accountability.

President Lee Jae-myung instructed the government in July to examine whether abortion medication could be introduced even before related legislation changes. The government has since begun preparing possible health insurance coverage and safety-management measures on the assumption that the medication will be allowed. The Food and Drug Safety Ministry, which holds authority to approve medicines, continues to say that lawmakers must first define the medication’s permitted scope in law.

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Do not delay the decision because of political concerns. Review it quickly and transparently according to the principles of medicine approval: safety, efficacy and quality.

Seo Eun-sol of the Korean Pharmacists for a Healthy Society said regulated approval would make it possible to provide accurate instructions, manage adverse reactions and support safe use through doctors and pharmacists. She urged the ministry to review the drug quickly and transparently according to standards of safety, efficacy and quality rather than delaying for political reasons.

Mifepristone was designated an essential medicine by the World Health Organization in 2005 and is allowed in 101 countries, the groups said. They also called for a broader abortion-care system that guarantees nationwide access, affordable prices, insurance coverage and safe services without unnecessary testing or mandatory in-facility use.

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If abortion medication is introduced at an excessively high price, is not covered by health insurance, or requires unnecessary additional tests or use inside a medical institution, access cannot be guaranteed.