‘Ban Abortion to Improve Birthrate’ Says Japanese Politician

Abortion in Japan has something of a chequered history; while the earliest records of induced abortions date from the 12th century, it was banned nationwide shortly after the 1868 Meiji Restoration, then made criminal in 1907 under the Criminal Abortion Law.

While this law is technically still in force today, it has been made somewhat redundant due to other legislation such as the 1948 Eugenic Protection Law, revised in 1966 as the Maternal Health Protection Law. This means that abortion is effectively legal in Japan.

Furthermore, abortion is widely accepted in Japan, since it has none of the Judeo-Christian influence that makes abortion a difficult issue in some Western nations.

This recent column published in the Asahi Shimbun by Liberal Democratic Party politician Noda Seiko suggests that abortion should be prohibited in an attempt to address the falling birthrate. Japanese netizen comments strongly disagree with her proposed policies, highlighting almost uniformly supportive attitudes towards abortion.

From Asahi Shimbun:

‘Falling Birthrate Strategy Should Begin With Abortion Issue’ Says LDP Chairperson Noda

■ Noda Seiko, Chairperson of the Liberal Democratic Party Executive Council

With 200,000 pregnancies being terminated per year, if we are to counteract the falling birthrate, then we must begin there. I intend to have this reviewed in the party’s Special Committee on Population Decline in Society following the Upper House elections. We will not only prohibit abortion, but instead of prohibition we must also create laws (to mediate) child adoption, and prepare an environment in which children who are born can be brought up in society.

Image source: The Economist

Comments from 2ch.net

名無しさん＠１３周年：

So she’s saying give birth to unwanted children?

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Is she a Christian, this woman?

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Fucked up. So she wants to increase the number of unhappy children that much, does she?

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Completely disregards victims of rape. What the hell, this bitch.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Is she stupid? Make an environment where we want to bring up kids.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

A frightening remark by Noda. It’s true what they say, woman’s greatest enemy is woman.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

If you lower the legal age of marriage for girls to 13, I reckon the falling birthrate will resolve itself.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

You can’t just prohibit abortion from the perspective of the falling birthrate w Crazy as ever. In the end, what she’s saying is no different from saying ‘Hey, let’s control women’s births and abortions!

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Single mothers will increase, and social welfare costs are going to explode.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Welfare benefits for mothers and kids will go up, so, rejection.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

First I’d like her to do something about the kids who are born and not aborted, but then murdered.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

Actually, it’s a lot of the old hags who are the ones having the abortions. Kids with Down’s syndrome and deformities will increase, and the burden on citizens will grow.

名無しさん＠１３周年：

They should poke a hole in 1 in every 100 condoms to go along with this w

Comments from Twitter:

漂泊の落人:

It’s not that I don’t understand her feelings, but I think that first and foremost we should prepare a social environment where we can bring up children. Thus, I think she should take the initiative and welcome adoption, and become a vanguard in society.

ν篠田麻里子(高町みなみ):

What will happen as a result of this? She’s just a crazy person who is only seeing this as a result of the falling birthrate.

きとさん:

I reckon they’re better off accepting bigamy and early marriages (Lolita marriages? [pun on ‘loli-kon’].

ピロぽん:

Even if they prohibit abortion, that’s not exactly a strategy to combat the falling birthrate.

岳画殺@香港台湾～札幌和歌山へ！:

It’s like those religious forces abroad w

クニさん 06:53

Will she even prohibit terminations for pregnancies in women who are victims of crime?

U_nmt:

What kind of fundamentalist country is this? This bitch is just trying to increase friends for her kid because it’s got disabilities, and she had floods of criticism for giving birth at such an advanced age.

ぺりあんぬ@がんばれる気がしない:

I’m against this, because the kids will be much worse off, poor things.

うどん（ウー）:

She’s crazy. I bet she thinks we should just go back to the Edo period.

梅鉢チズル(CONTRACT BLUE:

I kind of understand her…but to do it by these extreme means…

裕起:

This is no good. I think this is only going to carelessly increase the number of unwanted children.