Japan Press Weekly

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2022 September 28 - October 4 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP Vice Chair Tamura attends 'Intl Safe Abortion Day' event in Tokyo

A day of action celebrating "International Safe Abortion Day" took place in Tokyo on September 28. Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Tamura Tomoko (House of Councilors) attended and JCP Gender Equality Commission Chair Kurabayashi Akiko (House of Councilors) sent a message in solidarity to the Tokyo day of action.

Event participants confirmed the need to amend a Maternal Protection Act provision which requires the husband's permission for abortion, and they agreed that a Penal Code article penalizing pregnant women for going ahead with their abortion on their own will should be abolished.

Kajiya Kazane, a member of the "Action for Safer Abortion Japan", said that her group initiated the signature-collection campaign demanding that the spousal consent requirement for abortion be deleted from the Maternal Protection Act, and that 82,000 signatures were submitted to the Ministry of Health and Welfare in June.

Kajiya cited cases in which several women got pregnant after marital rape and some were forced to give birth against their will because their husbands did not consent to an abortion. She said, "We should raise our strong voice in unity for the creation of a new legal system so that women's human rights will be protected."

JCP Tamura said, "Menstruation, sex, contraception, and abortion are matters directly concerning women's rights over their bodies. Patriarchy under the former Constitution of the Empire of Japan remains in the form of existing legislation which imposes humiliation physically, emotionally, and mentally on women. This should be rooted out."

Past related article:
> JCP in civil group’s survey: Reproductive health and rights are human rights [July 6, 2022]