Accessible in France since 1982, the abortion pill will be authorized in Japan by the end of the year. A real step forward for the country, but certain conditions have already been set. To obtain this drug, women will have to have the approval of their partner, reveals The Guardian.
Japan is one of the eleven countries in the world where it is necessary to obtain the agreement of a third party to resort to a surgical abortion. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already repeatedly called for the abolition of this practice. It is the Maternal Health Protection Law of 1948 which is at the origin of this policy, according to activists. Several associations are therefore asking the authorities to repeal these conditions for access to voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion).
An expensive drug
“The ‘spousal consent’ becomes a problem when there is a disagreement with the latter, or the spouse forces the woman to give birth against her will”, explains the founding member of the association Action for Safe Abortion Japan. Before adding: “To be forced to continue an unwanted pregnancy is violence and a form of torture. The movement is supported by an opposition MP, a member of the Social Democratic Party. This calls for more protection of women’s rights and recalls that they “are not the property of men”.
In addition to being subject to agreement, medical abortion will not be covered by national health insurance. Its cost is estimated at 100,000 yen, or nearly 730 euros. Inaccessible to many women therefore. “Contraception, abortion, pregnancy and childbirth should all be publicly funded,” argues a social science professor at Shizuoka University. According to the British daily, Japan took only six months to accept Viagra, compared to 40 years for oral contraceptives. For the activists, this kind of decision shows the “little interest shown in women’s health by Parliament and the medical community, which are mainly male”.