“Lives opposite” for the United States and Japan. While in the US women’s rights to access the abortion pill are on the wane, the abortion pill is now available in the Land of the Rising Sun after it was approved by the Ministry of Health yesterday.

Abortion has been legal in Japan since 1948, up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, but usually requires the consent of a spouse or partner, and the surgical procedure has until now been the only option for abortion.

However, yesterday in an official notification to the medical industry, the Japanese Ministry of Health announced that it had approved the pill manufactured by the British laboratory Linepharma.

The British lab had filed in December 2021 in Japan for approval of its abortion pill, a treatment that combines two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol, taken one to two days later.

This method of abortion is approved in many countries, including the USA since 2000 and France since 1988.

The approval of this pill in Japan to terminate pregnancies up to nine weeks follows the recommendation of a ministerial committee that emerged after lengthy discussions.

According to state broadcaster NHK, the total cost of buying this pill and medical consultation services will be around ¥100,000 (€669). Termination of pregnancy is not covered by health insurance.

Mifepristone has been at the center of one legal battle in the US. The Supreme Court there ruled on April 21 to maintain access to the abortion pill, also known as the “morning-after pill,” for now.

Defenders of the right to abortion in Japan are campaigning to give greater access to this pill.

So far, however, the pill cannot be purchased without a doctor’s approval, is not covered by health insurance, and is the only drug that must be taken in front of a pharmacist. The reason; To prevent the pill from “entering” the black market.