In Japan, abortion is legal up to 21 weeks and six days of pregnancy, but only if a woman can cite a risk to her health or likely financial hardship if she were to give birth to her child. If a woman is married, she can only obtain an abortion if she has the consent of her husband.
Out of concern that access to an abortion pill would increase the number of abortions in Japan, some pro-life activists protested in front of the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, reported the Italian Catholic publication Servizio Informazione Religiosa. The leader of the protests, a 73-year-old man named Kazuo Sasaki, led daily rallies and went on a hunger strike to oppose the proposal.
Ligaya Acosta, the regional director of Asia and Oceania at Human Life International, told CNA that many pro-life advocates in Japan “find it difficult” to get involved in the legislative process and noted that the government receives “pressure” from international organizations to expand access to abortion.
“This [panel approval of the abortion pill] makes us very sad,” Acosta said.
Acosta stated that pro-life advocates are “able to open the eyes of so many people” in the country and “hopefully, slowly but surely, we are bringing back the culture of life in Japan.”
She said the government promoted abortion after World War II during a period of economic distress, but said Japan is now “a very rich country” and should “start rethinking about their positions” on abortion.