A pregnant woman in Seoul, South Korea, lost her child after a doctor mistakenly performed an abortion on her.

Doctor failed to check the patient's identity

The Korea Herald reported that neither the nurse nor the doctor verified the patient's identity when she entered a hospital delivery room.

Confusing her for the patient on the charts they were looking at, the nurse injected the patient with anaesthesia, after which the doctor performed the abortion.

The victim, who is allegedly a Vietnamese national, was six weeks into her pregnancy.

According to CNN, a South Korean media outlet reported that she was supposed to receive a nutritional shot at the clinic.

The woman returned the next day after experiencing bloody discharge, only to be told that the foetus had been aborted.

Abortion is illegal in most cases in South Korea

According to The Korea Herald, the police booked the gynaecologist and the nurse involved on Sep. 23 for professional negligence.

They are also currently being investigated.

Police explained that the doctor and the nurse involved cannot be charged with abortion without consent, because the victim was not aware she was going through the abortion.

This meant that she could have expressed neither consent nor dissent.

Under current South Korean laws, abortion is illegal in most cases, although illegal abortions continue to be widespread.

Top image from Pexels.