Japan allows over-the-counter ‘morning after’ pill for first time

Oct 20, 2025
Jaroslav Lukiv

Japan has for the first time approved over-the-counter sales of an emergency contraceptive pill, its manufacturer says, allowing women in the country to take the medication without prescription.

ASKA Pharmaceutical said wider access to the pill would "empower Japanese women in the area of reproductive health". A date for it to go on sale has yet to be announced.

The pill will be labelled as "medicine requiring guidance", meaning women must take it in the presence of a pharmacist.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gwxkdkyn0o

20.10.2025

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over the counter emergency contraception

Asia

Japan

Contraception

Japan reports 1,440 abortions by pill 1 year after introduction

KYODO NEWS
Mar 1, 2025

An oral abortion pill was used in 1,440 cases in Japan in fiscal 2023 after its sales were approved that April, making up a small share of the more than 120,000 abortions performed that year, a government report showed.

With sexual and reproductive health rights in focus ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, some health experts say the "Mefeego Pack" still has a long way to go before becoming a widely used option in Japan, where approval came nearly 40 years after France became the first country to authorize such a drug.

Continued: https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/03/d88e9dc77b0d-japan-reports-1440-abortions-by-pill-1-year-after-introduction.html

01.03.2025

News

abortion pill

Linepharma International

Japan’s health ministry considers wider availability for abortion pill

Aug 5, 2024

The health ministry is considering expanding the availability of the country's first approved abortion pill, the Mefeego pill pack, to allow clinics without inpatient facilities to use it.

Currently, the medication can only be administered in hospitals with inpatient capabilities. Following a national survey indicating no severe complications since its approval in April last year, the ministry is aiming to allow its use in outpatient clinics that can provide 24-hour care and coordinate with inpatient facilities for emergencies.

Continued: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/08/05/japan/society/abortion-pill-clinics/

05.08.2024

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abortion pills

abortion pills at home

Reproductive rights elusive 1 year after Japan’s approval of abortion pill

April 20, 2024
By Chermaine Lee

OSAKA, JAPAN — Wider access to abortion in Japan has largely remained elusive a year after the historic approval of medical abortion pills.

In April last year, lawmakers approved the use of the two-step abortion pill — MeFeego Pack — for pregnancies up to nine weeks. Before that, women in the East Asian nation could only receive a surgical abortion in private clinics by designated surgeons that often charge as much as $370.

Financial strain aside, women were often required to provide proof of spousal consent to receive an abortion, making it nearly impossible for them to make the decision on their own. Reports showed that even for single women, doctors still asked for permission of a male partner before agreeing to perform such surgeries.

Continued: https://www.voanews.com/a/reproductive-rights-elusive-1-year-after-japan-s-approval-of-abortion-pill-/7577929.html

Consent issue casts shadow on safe abortion in Japan

BY KATHLEEN BENOZA
Sep 28, 2023

As the world observes International Safe Abortion Day on Thursday, there is growing focus on the movement in Japan for safe and accessible abortion practices. The recent approval of the first abortion pill in the nation offers a glimmer of hope, but archaic rules governing consent — rooted in Japan's eugenics history — persist, casting a shadow on safe access.

The 1996 Maternal Health Act, which includes the spousal consent law, evolved from the 1948 Eugenic Protection Act, which opened the path for legal abortion. The former abolished eugenic provisions to create the law Japan follows today.

Continued: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/09/28/japan/science-health/international-safe-abortion-day/

28.09.2023

Commentary

Eugenic Protection Act

International Safe Abortion Day

Kumi Tsukahara

Maternal Health Act

Misako Iwamoto

Reproductive Health Rights Literacy Institute

spousal consent for abortion

Japan’s First Abortion Pill Is Here — and Elusive

By Kanoko Matsuyama
June 19, 2023

Japan approved its first abortion pill in April, decades after countries like the US and France, for use by women who are up to nine weeks pregnant.

The green light finally gives Japanese women an option to abort pregnancy without surgery, and empowers our rights in a country ranked 116th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report last year — near Burkina Faso and Tajikistan — and where women must consult with doctors to get oral contraceptives.

But it’s hard for us to be overjoyed about our progress, as access to the treatment is highly restricted.

Continued: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-06-19/japan-s-first-abortion-pill-is-here-and-elusive

Japan – A big but awkward step forward

2023-05-30
Kumi Tsukahara, Hatena Blog

In Japan, the Mefeego Pack, a combi-product of one Mifepristone and four Misoprostol tablets, was launched on May 16, 2023, and the Japan Women's Foundation's Dr. Miho Uchida's clinic began offering "oral abortion pills" for the first time in Japan on Thursday, May 25, 2023.

As far as we could confirm on May 27, 11 hospitals or clinics joined the providers listed on the website of the manufacturer Linepharma K.K. as institutions that can handle this drug, however on Monday morning, all the other clinics that followed the lead of Dr. Uchida's Fides Ladies Clinic disappeared from the list.

Continued: https://okumi.hatenadiary.com/

Japan approves abortion pill for the first time

Health ministry gives green light for two-step treatment to end pregnancies up to nine weeks

Agence France-Presse in Tokyo
Sat 29 Apr 2023

The abortion pill is to become available in Japan for the first time after the health ministry approved a drug used to terminate early-stage pregnancies.

Abortion is legal in Japan up to 22 weeks, but consent is usually required from a spouse or partner, and until now a surgical procedure had been the only option.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/29/japan-approves-abortion-pill-for-the-first-time

29.04.2023

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approval of mifepristone

Mefeego Pack approved as 1st abortion pill in Japan

April 28, 2023
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's health ministry approved Friday for the first time the sale of an oral abortion pill, giving women in early pregnancy an alternative to the surgical procedure.

The pill, called Mefeego Pack developed by British pharmaceutical company Linepharma International Ltd., can terminate a pregnancy of up to 9 weeks of gestation, and is considered safer than the surgical abortions that have been used hereto.

Continued: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230428/p2g/00m/0sc/071000c

28.04.2023

News

abortion pill

Linepharma International

Japan approves first abortion pill, decades after other countries

By Jessie Yeung and Eru Ishikawa, CNN
Mon April 24, 2023

A panel in Japan’s health ministry has approved the country’s first abortion pill, in a major step for reproductive rights decades after other countries made abortion medication widely available.

The ministry’s pharmaceutical board granted approval on Friday to the MeFeego Pack, an abortion pill manufactured by British pharmaceutical Linepharma, according to a spokesperson from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/24/asia/japan-abortion-pill-approved-intl-hnk/index.html

24.04.2023