The right to protect our bodies by ourselves: Promotion of birth control pills in Japan
Signatures and Responses on Emergency Contraceptives
Recently, a Japanese civil society group submitted signatures (about 67,000) to the government to allow emergency birth control pills to be sold in pharmacies. The petition is still underway and as of July 31, 2020, more than 84,000 signatures have been collected. The number of consultations with the NPO Pilcon has increased by 2.6 times compared to the previous year, as people are being requested to prevent COVID-19 infection and to avoid going out. Currently, the most common way to get the after-pill in Japan is to see an obstetrician and pay between 6,000 and 20,000 yen for it. The success rate of the after-pill decreases rapidly after 48 hours of intercourse, and the earlier you take it, the higher the rate of success in contraception. This is why making the after-pill accessible is so important to help women who may have had an unwanted pregnancy, including underage women.
Figure 1: Pregnancy arrest rates and time course of emergency contraceptives
In response to this, the vice-president of the Japan Association of Gynecologists, in an NHK television program, commented: "There are very few places in Japan where young women can receive good sex education, including contraception. I am concerned that the number of women trying to use the after-pill easily and repeatedly will increase."
Counterpoints to the reply
There are three points that can be argued against this.
First of all, regarding the "lack of sex education for women", it is not only women who should receive sex education.
Pregnancy is not something a woman can do alone, and there is always a woman and a man who has had sex with her as a factor in pregnancy. Nevertheless, why did this doctor comment that there is a lack of sex education for young women? Even if the woman has sex with another form of protection, such as the low-dose pill or condoms, the chance of contraceptive failure is not 0%. So if neither of you wants to get pregnant, then it's both people are responsible for thinking what contraception to choose and what to do if you fail.
The age of sexual consent in Japan is 13 years old, but sex education is not satisfactorily provided even to junior high school students who have reached the age of sexual consent. The comment that emergency contraceptives cannot be sold in pharmacies "because young women do not receive satisfactory sex education" is a paradoxical one that ignores the process of getting pregnant.
Secondly, this is on the point that " concerned that the number of women trying to use the after-pill easily and repeatedly will increase”. If she knows emergency birth-control pills exists, and know where to go and how much to pay, when she had sex that could have led to pregnancy, then took action to avoid abortion or unwanted birth of a baby, these are not an easy, unthinking action. In addition, the after-pill can have very strong side effects, such as feelings of nausea and headache, which can vary from person to person. If you vomit, it will not work and you will have to wait patiently for the medicine to be digested while holding back the strong nausea. If the after-pill is taken long after the sex act, a woman cannot be relieved until her next cycle, as there is not a high probability of pregnancy being prevented. Women who have endured these and successfully used contraception are rather to be applauded. If she didn't know the after pill existed and left herself after having potentially fertile sex, past the period of time when an abortion was possible and she gave birth to a baby she didn't really want, I think that would be a much easy, unthinking way. Is the increase in the number of people using emergency contraceptives really a cause for concern? I don't think there's anything wrong with more women having more power to control their own bodies and their own lives.
The third is that Reproductive Health Rights are not given to us by someone else, but are something we have from birth. A woman's right to control the phenomenon of pregnancy that occurs in her body should not be suppressed. It is necessary to make the after-pill more accessible in terms of respecting Reproductive Health Rights.
However, for the above two reasons, an obstetrician who appeared on television seems not to respect this idea and not to be close to women in need of emergency contraceptives.
Ways of pregnancy prevention around the world
In Japan, the low-dose pill and condoms are the most common methods of contraception, but there are contraceptive methods overseas that the Japanese don't even know the names of.
In addition, the after-pill is available in pharmacies in the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, and the U.S. In Sweden, Germany and France, underage people can get the after-pill for free if they buy it at a hospital, and in the UK, anyone can get it for free if they buy it at a hospital. The price is about 1000-1500 yen.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, around the world, in order to protect women's right to make reproductive decisions, A contraceptive method that many Japanese people don't even know exists is provided free of charge under certain conditions. Making emergency contraceptives available in pharmacies was only a small step in protecting women's rights in Japan, and it is highly regrettable that this was commented on by the vice-president of the Japan Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in a heartbreaking way.