Only for 'naughty girls'
*Stigma lingers after South Korea abortion ban overturned
Japan Times reported on April 19 2019 that those who undergo the procedure will still be "punished in the eyes of society.
Abortion pills replace demand for surgical TOP: Canada
*Canadian abortion update
WHO publications on abortion
WHO | Health worker roles in providing safe abortion care and post-abortion contraception
Publication details
Number of pages: 81
Publication date: July 2015
Languages: English, French, Spanish
ISBN: 978 92 4 154926 4
WHO | Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems
Second edition
Abort the stigma
*Why talking about your abortion helps make it safer for everyone
written by ALRANZ president Terry Bellamak
If you face with the dilemma of an unwanted pregnancy
Here I found a useful information for foreigners visiting Japan.
Links: articles about Gender discrimination for university entrance exams in Japan
*It's a tip of the iceberg!
Tokyo Medical University’s Gender Discrimination: Japan’s Shame - FNN.jpプライムオンライン
Let's discuss the Tokyo Medical University exam-fixing scandal | The Japan Times
Japanese Medical School Accused of Rigging Admissions to Keep Women Out - The New York Times
many more...
In addition,
Japanese government virtually legalized abortion in the 1940s just after the WWII
*Japanese women not allowed to use contraceptive pills until 1999
Almost all of the Western nations allowed birth control pills first, and then abortion. However, in Japan thieir order was opposite: abortion first, and birth control pills a half century later.
Why such an odd situation happened in Japan?
See "Abortion before Birth Control" written by an American author, Tiana Norgren, which was translated into Japanese, too.
Related articles found at JSTOR;
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JOURNAL ARTICLE
Abortion before Birth Control: The Interest Group Politics Behind Postwar Japanese Reproduction Policy
Tiana Norgren
The Journal of Japanese Studies
Vol. 24, No. 1 (Winter, 1998), pp. 59-94
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Abstract from JSTOR:
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Abstract
Why is Japanese abortion policy liberal, whereas contraception policy is conservative? The government legalized late-term abortions in 1948 but has not yet approved oral contraception (the pill). This paper argues that the contradictory policies are products of very different interest group configurations and historical circumstances. Doctors and family planners used a small window of opportunity to legalize abortion; afterward, doctors and women battled religious groups to uphold the law. The pill first appeared at a historically inauspicious time, and the pharmaceutical industry was its lone champion: until recently, doctors, midwives, family planners, and women opposed the pill as a threat to their livelihoods, abortion rights, and women's health.
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United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division
*Looking at Japan from "World Abortion Policies"
Wall chart: access here。
Excel file data: access here and click "Data Table (Excel)".
According to this chart, Japanese women are not allowed to have abortion on request, due to mental health problems nor fetal abnormalities. However, most abortions can be obtained under the economical hardship clause, and the true cause is not usually asked by the doctor in concern.
D&C is rampant in Japan
*Abortion techniques used
According to Sekiguchi et al. (2015), "Safety of induced abortions at less than 12 weeks of pregnancy in Japan", International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 129:54-57, more than 80 % of the abortions before 12 weeks of pregnancy (LMP) in Japan are done using D&C w/wo vacum aspiration.
This study asked the number of induced abortions performed before 12 weeks of pregnancy between January 1 and December 31, 2012, methods used, complications, and routine management approaches before and during the procedure.
Another study which asked the method used for abortion in Japan is the research that Prof. Kinefuchi, Dr. Mizuno and Dr. Tsukahara conducted in 2010. A questionnaire was sent to Japanese "regignated" (abortion) doctors all over the nation to ask what kind of early abortion methods they use etc.
The survey found out that more than 80 % of the abortions before 12 weeks in Japan are done using D&C w/wo vacum aspiration. The findings were announced at the annual conference of Japan Society of Maternal Health on September 30, 2011 using three posters. Main part of them are cited on my blog. http://f.hatena.ne.jp/okumi/20111012115647
Japanese doctors typically use prostaglandin (gemeprost pessary) for abortion >12 weeks.
Just recently, MVA kit was affirmed by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and a small number of Japanese abortion doctors began to use Manual suction method.
D&E is probably used in case of emergency.
Basic information of abortion in Japan
*Official Statistics of abortion in Japan
Numbers of legally induced abortions (recent 5 years)
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Year* Legally induced abortions
2012 196,639
2013 186,253
2014 181,905
2015 176,388
2016 168,015
2017 164,621
* Japanese Fiscal Year begins on April 1 and ends on March 31 of the next year.
source: Eisei-Gyosei-Hokokurei(Hygiene Administration Report Examples), on https://www.e-stat.go.jp/
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