29 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Japanese Ministry of Health has approved this past Friday the use of an abortion pill, the first that can be used legally in the country, in response to popular clamor for greater reproductive rights and following the recommendation of a committee of experts.
This decision comes at a time when the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is drawing up an action plan in an “unprecedented” effort to increase the birth rate in a country where fewer than 800,000 babies were born last year. , the lowest figure since 1899, when the authorities began to keep track.
The Ministry of Health would have created this panel to review around 12,000 comments collected asking for the approval of the pill, which would mean an alternative to the surgical procedure that is available in the country and that is the only legal way to perform an abortion currently in Japan .
This review responds to a request from the British drug company Linepharma, which in 2021 sought approval of the abortion drug it manufactures, Mefeego –which includes two types of drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol– for distribution in the UK. asian country.
Still, the move is not without controversy. The drug would not be covered by Japanese health, so reproductive rights activists have raised concerns about the possible cost of the pill.
The current policy that requires the husband’s consent in married people before starting the process is also a matter of debate, something that the Ministry has confirmed would be equally necessary with the pill.
For his part, the minister in charge of the plan against the decline in birth rates, Masanobu Ogura, insisted this week for his part that “the next six or seven years will be Japan’s last chance to reverse the downward trend in births.” .
Among other measures being prepared, the Japanese government plans to remove the maximum income limit for monthly cash payments to parents and extend payments, which currently end when the child turns 15, until graduation from high school.
The Government would also increase the amount of the benefit for families with three or more children, collects the Japanese public channel NHK.
