*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;
>>
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
<<
Abstract from JSTOR:
>>
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.
<<
