225 South Korea court strikes down abortion ban

Hi, welcome to English Journal 365.

This is Hu Yuxi.

I will read the 225th English journal for you.

It’s about abortion in South Korea.


South Korea court strikes down six-decade-old abortion ban
韩国法院废除了长达六十年的堕胎禁令



In a 7 to 2 vote, Seoul's Constitutional Court overturned a 66-year-old ban on abortion, which denied abortion except for in cases of rape, incest or if the mother's health is at risk. The verdict paves way for South Korea to legalize abortion, knocking down one of the most stringent abortion bans in the developed world.
韩国宪法法院以 7 比 2 的投票结果推翻了长达 66 年的堕胎禁令。该禁令禁止堕胎，除非有强奸、乱伦的情况，或者在孕妇的健康受到威胁时。这一裁决为实现韩国堕胎合法化铺平了道路，打破了发达国家中最严苛的堕胎禁令之一。
Under the now-overruled regulation, women could be fined or jailed for a year for having abortions, while doctors who assist with them could face up to two years in prison.
根据这条如今已被废除的法规，女性可能因堕胎而被罚款或被判监禁一年，而协助她们堕胎的医生可能面临高达两年的监禁。
However, a survey by Korean Women's Development Institute last year of 2,006 women aged 15 to 44 found one out of five respondents have received abortion—97 percent of them illegally.
然而，在去年，韩国妇女发展研究所对 2006 名 15 到 44 岁的女性进行了一项调查。调查发现，有五分之一的受访者曾堕过胎，且这其中有 97%是非法堕胎。
Lee Han-bon of Lawyers for a Democratic Society said individuals were rarely punished for abortion unless deliberately reported to the police, usually by boyfriends or husbands seeking reprisal. "The premise of the abortion law was protection of unborn children, but in reality the restriction just made women vulnerable to fear of punishment."
来自民主社会律师组织的李汉邦（音）表示，人们通常不会因为堕胎而受到惩罚，除非有人故意向警方报案，而故意报案的通常是寻求报复的男友或丈夫。“堕胎法的前提是保护未出生的孩子，但实际上，这种限制只会使得女性容易害怕受到惩罚。”
Outside the verdict was met with cheers from abortion rights proponents. There were also angry outcries at the court from opponents led by small, but vocal minority of Catholics and other Christian denominations.
在法庭外，堕胎权支持者为这一裁决而欢呼雀跃。在法庭上，也有反对者愤怒抗议，带头抗议的是来自天主教和其他基督教教派的少数群体。他们人数虽少，但是声响很大。
"Now a woman can be respected for her own decision about her body," said Lee Yu-rim of Sexual and Reproductive Rights Forum.
来自性与生殖权利论坛的李玉琳（音）说：“现在，人们能尊重女性对自己的身体作出的决定了。”



Well, this is the end of my English speech today.

What’s your opinion about abortion?

Thanks for your listening.

Goodbye and good luck.