Nursing bill dies as lawmakers fail to override veto

Members of the Korean Nurses' Association call on lawmakers to pass the proposed Nursing Act outside the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

A controversial nursing bill previously rejected by President Yoon Suk Yeol was scrapped Tuesday after it failed to muster the necessary two-thirds support to override his veto.

The Nursing Act was pushed through the legislature by the liberal Democratic Party (DP) last month but was vetoed at the May 16 Cabinet meeting by the president, who said it could disrupt the medical sector and did not sufficiently consider objections raised by doctors and nursing assistants.

The bill needed to be approved by two-thirds of a quorum of the legislature's 300 lawmakers to override the president’s veto. Only 178 lawmakers voted for the bill on Tuesday, with 104 opposing and four votes deemed void.

The DP had presented the bill to the National Assembly's plenary session again with the hope that enough of the conservative People Power Party's (PPP) 115 lawmakers would defect and vote for the bill to secure its passage the second time.

Rep. Choi Youn-suk, a former nurse, and Rep. Kim Ye-ji, who co-sponsored the bill, were two PPP lawmakers who previously voted in favor of the law.

The bill, which stipulates “all citizens are entitled to nursing care at medical institutions and in local communities,” led to partial strikes by doctors concerned that the bill would allow nurses to practice medicine independently and even open clinics due to the inclusion of the term “local communities.”

The current Medical Service Act simply defines nursing as a profession that provides care to patients by assisting doctors.

Other medical staff, including certified nursing assistants, have also been protesting the bill, arguing that the legislation privileges nurses.

Nurses on the other hand have called on the National Assembly to pass legislation that more clearly defines their roles and responsibilities.

They argue that the ambiguity of the current law has led them to perform duties outside of their jobs and that the new law is needed to improve their working conditions.

Some in the PPP, which had advised Yoon to reject the Nursing Act, have argued that the new law was one of several pushed through the legislature by the DP to apply political pressure on the president.

But the rejection of the law is not without cost for the PPP.

The nurses’ union is much larger than those for doctors or nursing assistants, and PPP lawmakers who previously spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity have expressed concern that nurses could mobilize against the party’s candidates in next year’s parliamentary election.

According to the Health Ministry, there were nearly 440,000 registered nurses as of 2020, with 120,000 students training to become nurses.

Meanwhile, a motion requesting parliamentary consent to allow prosecutors to arrest two lawmakers implicated in the DP’s cash-for-votes scandal was reported to the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Reps. Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Sung-man, both now independent lawmakers, are suspected by prosecutors of helping distribute bribes to DP members and lawmakers to support former DP leader Song Young-gil’s successful party leadership bid ahead of the DP’s national convention in May 2021.

Prosecutors suspect that Song’s campaign officials distributed envelopes of cash totaling 94 million won ($70,970) to party members, including up to 20 lawmakers, to shore up support for his candidacy.

A majority of a quorum of lawmakers must agree to their arrest for prosecutors’ warrant request to proceed to court review.

Youn is suspected by prosecutors of having helped distribute some 60 million won to other DP lawmakers before the convention by divvying up the amount into envelopes containing 3 million won each.

He left the DP in early May alongside Lee, who is accused of being involved in distributing 9 million won to the chiefs of the Song campaign’s regional chapters.

Both Youn and Lee have denied the allegations, claiming that the prosecution has fabricated the accusations to tarnish the DP’s image.

Although both Youn and Lee are no longer members of the DP, some lawmakers from the party would have to agree to their arrest, given the DP’s majority of 169 lawmakers in the 300-seat legislature.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]