SW News:

Pro-life organizations in Japan have decried the government’s plan to introduce an abortion pill that will enable women to chemically abort their child up to the ninth week of pregnancy. The proposal was put to vote by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s panel. It is slated that the health minister will give assent to the medicine enabling more women to undergo an abortion.

According to Ligaya Acosta, the regional director of Asia and Oceania at Human Life International, has slammed the government's attempt to expand access to abortion by introducing the over-the-counter pill. “This [panel approval of the abortion pill] makes us very sad,” said Acosta.

Acosta said that both life and family are of great significance to the Japanese people. “But many remain silent when it comes to the matter of abortion.” “Japanese are very committed to promoting and defending life and family. The Japanese are very pro-life people, but most are silent.”

Many women, according to Acosta, undergo an abortion without adequate knowledge about the after-effects of the procedure, including post-abortion stress syndrome. It is a blanket term for several symptoms women develop after they terminate the pregnancy. People who believe that abortions are bad but undergo the procedure are likely to suffer from a mental health disorder. It is characterized by self-loathing, depression, guilt and shame.

When the proposal to introduce the abortion pill was announced, hundreds of pro-lifers protested outside the office of the health ministry. Pro-lifers and civil society groups are also concerned over the new move. The capital Tokyo witnesses hundreds of pro-life supporters and activists rallying for the annual March for Life on the third Monday of July during the national Marine Day holiday. Acosta is optimistic that more people will take part in the march this year with the government going ahead with the proposal to make chemical abortions accessible.

The drug is a combination  of two medicines-- mifepristone and misoprostol—developed by British pharmaceutical company Linepharma.