INDIA – Married woman’s consent alone matters for abortion, says Punjab and Haryana High Court

The court was hearing a plea by the petitioner seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy in the second trimester

Jan 1, 2026

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that the consent of a married woman alone is sufficient for a medical termination of pregnancy, allowing a 21-year-old woman from Punjab to undergo an abortion without her husband’s approval.

The court was hearing a plea by the petitioner seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy in the second trimester. She told the court that she married on May 2, 2025, and that her relationship with her husband had been turbulent.

Continued: https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/married-womans-consent-alone-matters-for-abortion-says-punjab-and-haryana-high-court/cid/2140587

01.01.2026

News

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Punjab and Haryana High Court

spousal consent for abortion

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

Women in UAE no longer need spousal consent for emergency abortions

New legislation also permits private licensed clinics to perform the procedure

Shireena Al Nowais
Dec 03, 2023

Women in the UAE no longer require their husband's consent to undergo emergency abortions.

New legislation allows women to terminate their pregnancy after receiving the results of their medical report if it states that their own life, or that of their unborn child, is at risk.

The procedure will only be granted after the woman has given her consent, or if her consent is not possible, her husband or guardian.

Continued: https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2023/12/04/women-in-uae-no-longer-need-spousal-consent-for-abortions/

03.12.2023

spousal consent for abortion

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 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

News

approval of mifepristone

spousal consent for abortion

Japan panel approves nation’s first abortion pill

BY KATHLEEN BENOZA
Apr 21, 2023

A health ministry panel on Friday approved the country’s first abortion pill, which would provide an alternative to a surgical procedure amid calls for progress in women’s reproductive rights and gender equality.

The ministry announced the move after a secondary panel reviewed 12,000 public comments collected online. Final approval from the health minister is expected to follow, but the timing remains unclear.

Continued: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/04/21/national/abortion-pill-japan-approval/

They helped their friend get an abortion. Now a bitter ex-husband is suing them

Marcus Silva’s lawsuit is a metaphor for the creepy, stupid and cruel nature of the anti-choice movement

Moira Donegan
Sat 15 Apr 2023

It wasn’t initially clear how Marcus Silva, a Texas man, even knew about his ex-wife’s abortion. Last month, just weeks after the divorce his wife had filed for was finalized, Silva filed a “wrongful death” lawsuit against three of her closest friends, seeking $1m from each. He claims that the women helped his wife obtain abortion medication in July 2022 – two months after she had filed for divorce from him, and just a few weeks after the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v Wade and states like Texas outlawed abortion. And Silva had text messages to prove it.

continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/15/texas-abortion-bounty-hunter-law-friends-sued

Battle for Reproductive Rights Continues in Japan

OCTOBER 23, 2022
Sasha Kong

Japanese women who want to have an abortion still need their husband's consent under the law, and many have limited access to emergency pills. Some experts believe there is growing momentum now to amend the law.

When a woman in Japan goes to a hospital to have an abortion, doctors not only charge her a high rate, but also request proof of consent from the father.

Continued: https://www.fairplanet.org/story/japan-battle-for-reproductive-rights/

23.10.2022