Japan approves access to morning-after pill without doctor’s prescription
Everything changes, except the avant-garde, or so the saying goes. Now in Japan, perhaps it’s rather nothing changes, except for sexual mores.
For years, Japan seemed to lag behind other major nations in the Global North in terms of access to emergency birth control or even use of contraception.
Basically, people just don’t use condoms, inspired by the Fuji-sized mountains of porn they consume in which condoms are never seen (but generally are used), leading to lots of shotgun weddings (it seems like most celebrities seem to marry this way) and a STDs/STIs crisis, especially syphilis — in some ways, a more serious epidemic than Covid was in Japan because it is less known.
But in a country where society notoriously never changes, are we witnessing a sort of sea change in access to birth control measures?
Last year, after a long efforts by campaigners, Japan finally approved the abortion pill, though consent from the partner is required — which is a major caveat if you think you’re pregnant from a rape.
The morning-after pill (called, in case you need to know, kinkyu hininyaku in Japanese) has long been available, but with a doctor’s prescription. It requires a woman to act very quickly if she suspects she has become pregnant through intercourse, securing an appointment with an appropriate medical specialist, getting the prescription, going to the right pharmacy, and waiting for the drugs to be prepared. That’s a fair amount of legwork to cover in the 72-hour window after intercourse.
Now that, too, is set to change as the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has now approved a proposal to let women buy morning-after pills without a medical prescription.
The ministry conducted a review and collected public feedback, around 98% of which supported providing access to morning-after pills without a prescription.
Non-prescription sales of the morning-after pill are set to begin on a trial basis this summer nationwide at drugstores with trained pharmacists on site.
It’s been a long time coming, with the government previously rejecting a similar proposal in 2017 over fears of “misuse” of the drug. We wouldn’t be surprised if the (almost certainly male) politicos and mandarins thought keeping the status quo might be a way to solve Japan’s chronic demographic crisis.
The morning-after pill is already available to buy at pharmacies in around 90 countries and some provide access to it for free if you are below a certain age.
7 Comments
if nothing ever changes, then what was the meiji restoration?
@Mike Travels
Yeah, when one elite was swapped out for another, and then they introduced a lot of the laws about sex and obscenity (modeled on Western Christian morals) that are still restraining people in Japan. A restoration is a reset, rather than a genuine change. Btw, we were being sarcastic in the post.
finally taro and megumi can have sex without worrying about pregnancy
Dear Tadashi Anahori,
I think Japan is right to accept the morning after pill. But that pill has to have a higher price than other contraceptive methods. With that, horny adult couples will be forced to buy condoms. Because the greater the misuse of this pill, there will be unwanted pregnancies. Therefore pharmacies could stop selling it by government laws.
In the case of a woman who suffered sexual abuse, taking the pills the next day is fine. However, asking the rapist for permission to abort is absurd.
@Mr. Gutierrez
We’re pretty sure it will be quite expensive. Even with a doctor’s prescription, it costs quite a lot, at least based on the limited experience we have with Megumi.
Dear Tadashi Anahori,
Thank you for your prompt response.
Kind regards
PS: Who is Megumi? I looked in the search bar of your website but there are more than 3 women with that name.
@Mr Gutierrez
As long-time readers may remember, we used to have different writers (Taro, Megumi, and Tadashi Anahori). We ultimately consolidated everything into one writer name for easier administration but fear not, Megumi is still around!