Abortion Pills Are Coming to Japan. Doctors Are Pushing Back.

Jan 14, 2022 | News On Japan

Jan 14, 2022 (vice.com) - Leading doctors are pushing for the abortion pill to be as expensive as the surgery, a procedure that’s not covered by health insurance.

In December, British pharmaceutical company Linepharma applied to the Japanese government for approval of their abortion pill. If endorsed, the pill would be the first medical abortion drug in the country, which abortion rights activists have said would make reproductive healthcare a lot more accessible and affordable.

But even before the pill has been formally approved, a process that’s expected to take up to a year, leading health experts worry that greater access could lead to abuse.

Kinoshita Katsuyuki, the head of Japan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a powerful industry group that represents a majority of doctors, said if the pill was deemed safe after clinical trials, then Japan has no choice but to approve it. “However, I am concerned that people will think this medicine can make abortions easier,” he said in an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK.

He added that only qualified doctors should be allowed to prescribe the pill, as heavy bleeding, a rare side effect of taking the medicine, could occur. “It’d be best to set the price of the abortion pill to how much the surgery costs—about 100,000 yen ($861),” he said. In some nations, the abortion pill is provided free of charge by the government.

But Kumi Tsukahara, a reproductive health rights researcher and activist, called the push to make abortion pills as expensive as surgeries “unbelievable,” accusing Katsuyuki and other doctors of trying to hold on to their effective monopoly on carrying out abortions. “These doctors are only thinking about their business,” she told VICE World News.

“In Japan, surgical abortions are already so expensive and unaffordable for some women,” she said. Abortions and contraceptives are not covered by national health insurance.

To price the abortion pill so high defeats the purpose of medical abortions, which help widen access to lower income women, Tsukahara added.

Record Rain Triggers Level 5 Warning in Fukui

Record rainfall caused 19 rivers to overflow across Fukui Prefecture, flooding roads and homes, triggering landslides and temporarily forcing authorities to issue the highest-level heavy rain emergency warning from early Sunday morning.

Drones Deliver Supplies to Residents Cut Off by Landslide

Drones were used to deliver food and daily necessities to an isolated mountain community in Himi City, Toyama Prefecture, on August 30 after torrential rain triggered a landslide that cut off road access, while volunteers continued flood recovery work in neighboring Ishikawa Prefecture.

Typhoon No. 23 Overtakes No. 22 East of Japan as Both Head North

Two typhoons east of Japan were moving northward on August 30, with Typhoon No. 23 (Banlan) overtaking Typhoon No. 22 (Artau), although neither storm is expected to have a direct impact on Japan.

Nine-Minute Drone Video Shows Scale of Aeon Mall Damage

A 9-minute, 13-second drone video filmed inside Aeon Mall Kumamoto two days after the deadly explosion has provided a detailed view of the destruction, showing collapsed ceilings, heavy dust and widespread damage that may have affected between one-third and nearly half of the shopping center.

Conditions Ease as Typhoon No. 18 Passes Okinawa

Strong Typhoon No. 18 was moving northwest through the East China Sea on the night of August 26, gradually pulling away from Okinawa and the Amami Islands as lingering rain, strong winds and high waves were expected to ease. As of 9 p.m. on August 26, the typhoon was over waters north-northwest of Kume Island and moving northwest.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Three Students Swept Out to Sea in Kagoshima

Three teenage boys who went missing after being swept offshore from the coast of Ichikikushikino, Kagoshima Prefecture, on August 28 were found in the sea near the scene on August 29 and confirmed dead.

Foreign Cyclist Suffers Broken Shoulder in Shiga Hit-and-Run

A foreign man in his 30s suffered serious injuries after being struck by a car while riding a bicycle in Higashiomi, Shiga Prefecture, early on August 29, with police investigating the incident as a hit-and-run.

Bread Dumping Mystery Takes a Twist

A fake video apparently created with generative AI showing a large bear eating piles of sliced bread has spread on social media following a series of illegal bread dumping incidents in Tottori Prefecture, prompting the prefectural government to warn that misinformation could cause economic harm.

Teens Arrested for Spraying Fire Extinguishers at Police Station

Three youths, including a high school student and a junior high school student, have been arrested on suspicion of obstructing police duties after allegedly stealing fire extinguishers and spraying them toward a police station in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture.

Avant-Garde Artist Yayoi Kusama Dies at 97

Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese avant-garde artist whose obsessive dots, nets, pumpkins and mirrored rooms grew from intensely personal visions into some of the most recognizable images in contemporary art, died at a hospital in Tokyo on August 14, 2026, at the age of 97. Her death was announced on August 27 by companies representing the artist, which said she continued painting until her final days.

Bus Driver Crashes While Shooing Away Mosquito

A Toei bus crashed into a traffic signal in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on the morning of August 26 after the driver lost control of the steering wheel while trying to shoo away a mosquito, leaving two male passengers injured.

Don't Touch Paramedics' Shoes! Kanazawa Warns

Kanazawa's fire department is asking residents not to straighten or rearrange shoes removed by paramedics during emergency calls, warning that the well-intentioned gesture can delay the transport of patients by around 30 seconds and potentially interfere with medical care.

Luxury Watch Theft Carried Out in 10 Seconds

Two men who stole four luxury watches worth a combined 200 million yen from a store at Tokyo's Nakano Broadway may have carefully planned the 10-second theft, with one suspect renting an electric kick scooter shortly before the crime and investigators examining whether the other man's escape on foot was intended as a decoy.

< 2 3 4 5 >