Opinion | Legalising abortion pill only half the battle for women in Japan
- After much delay, Japan’s parliament looks set to approve the medication this year, but women will still require spousal consent to obtain a prescription
- This caveat, along with the cost – around US$780 per dose – has highlighted the country’s patriarchal views on reproductive rights, and the need for greater reform
More than three decades after the abortion pill first became available, legislation to approve the drug is winding its way through Japan’s parliament. The move follows an application last year by British pharmaceutical company Linepharma International to market medication for terminating pregnancies in the country.
An important question needs to be raised here: to what extent can Japan’s new legislation – which is likely to be approved by the end of the year – be described as a laudable step towards improving women's’ rights in the country?
For some, the law may be cause for celebration, but for many advocates of women’s rights and health, it is cause for concern – mainly because it comes with a catch that reflects the deeply embedded patriarchal norms of Japanese society.
As per the legislation, women in Japan will be required to obtain their partner’s consent before being prescribed the medication – which is a combination of two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol – to abort a pregnancy. Such a policy could have tragic consequences.
Under Japan’s 1948 Maternal Protection Law, spousal consent is already required for surgical abortions, with very few exceptions, such as in the case of rape. As a result, many women – especially those who have been pressurised by their partners or have been unable to contact them – have had to go through with unwanted pregnancies.
