{"id":77779,"date":"2024-06-21T05:04:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T05:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/japan-makes-it-very-hard-to-be-sterilized-these-women-demand-change\/"},"modified":"2024-06-21T05:04:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T05:04:08","slug":"japan-makes-it-very-hard-to-be-sterilized-these-women-demand-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/japan-makes-it-very-hard-to-be-sterilized-these-women-demand-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan Makes It Very Hard to Be Sterilized. These Women Demand Change."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/20\/multimedia\/00japan-sterilization1-qtpv\/00japan-sterilization1-qtpv-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Japan Makes It Very Hard to Be Sterilized. These Women Demand Change.\" title=\"Japan Makes It Very Hard to Be Sterilized. These Women Demand Change.\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When Hisui Tatsuta was in middle school, her mother used to joke that she couldn\u2019t wait to see the faces of her future grandchildren. Ms. Tatsuta, now a 24-year-old model in Tokyo, recoiled at the assumption that she would someday give birth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As her body began to develop feminine traits, Ms. Tatsuta took to extreme diet and exercise to forestall the changes. She started to regard herself as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/01\/05\/world\/asia\/with-manicures-and-makeup-japans-genderless-blur-line-between-pink-and-blue.html\" title=\"\">genderless<\/a>. \u201cTo be seen as a uterus that can give birth before being seen as a person, I did not like this,\u201d she said. Ultimately, she wants to be sterilized to eliminate any chance of becoming pregnant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet in Japan, women who seek sterilization procedures like tubal ligation or hysterectomies must meet conditions that are among the most onerous in the world. They must already have children and prove that pregnancy would endanger their health, and they are required to obtain the consent of their spouses. That makes such surgeries difficult to obtain for many women, and all but impossible for single, childless women like Ms. Tatsuta.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, she and four other women are suing the Japanese government, arguing that a decades-old law known as the Maternal Protection Act violates their constitutional right to equality and self-determination and should be overturned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During a hearing at Tokyo District Court last week, Michiko Kameishi, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, described the law as \u201cexcessive paternalism\u201d and said it \u201cassumed that we think of a woman\u2019s body as a body that is destined to become a mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Kameishi told a three-judge panel of two men and one woman that the conditions for voluntary sterilization were relics of a different era and that the plaintiffs wanted to take \u201can essential step in living the life they have chosen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Japan lags other developed countries on reproductive rights beyond sterilization. Neither the birth control pill nor intrauterine devices are covered by national health insurance, and women who seek abortions are required to gain the consent of their partners. The most common form of birth control in Japan is the condom, according to a survey by the Japan Family Planning Association. Fewer than 5 percent of women use birth control pills as a primary method for preventing pregnancy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Experts say that the plaintiffs in the sterilization case, who are also seeking damages of 1 million yen (about $6,400) per person with interest, face considerable hurdles. They are pushing for the right to be sterilized at the same time that the government is trying to increase Japan\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/english.kyodonews.net\/news\/2024\/06\/ea67df021056-japans-fertility-rate-number-of-births-hit-record-lows-in-2023.html?phrase=aichi%20triennale%202019&amp;words=\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">birthrate, which has fallen to record lows<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cFor women who can give birth to stop having children, it is seen as a step backward in society,\u201d said Yoko Matsubara, a professor of bioethics at Ritsumeikan University. \u201cSo it may be difficult to get support\u201d for the suit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last week, as the five female plaintiffs sat across a courtroom from four male representatives of the government, Miri Sakai, 24, a graduate student in sociology, testified that she had no interest in either sexual or romantic relationships or in having children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/07\/world\/asia\/japan-working-women.html\" title=\"\">women have made some progress in the workplace<\/a> in Japan, cultural expectations for their family duties are much as they have always been. \u201cThe lifestyle of not getting married or having children is still rejected in society,\u201d Ms. Sakai said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIs it natural to have children for the sake of the country?\u201d she asked. \u201cAre women who do not give birth to children themselves unnecessary for society?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Japan, sterilization is a particularly sensitive issue because of the government\u2019s history of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/25\/world\/asia\/japan-sterilization-eugenics-compensation.html\" title=\"\">forcing the procedures<\/a> on people with psychiatric conditions or intellectual and physical disabilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sterilizations were performed for decades under a 1948 measure known as the Eugenics Protection Law. It was revised and renamed as the Maternal Protection Act in 1996 to remove the eugenics clause, but lawmakers retained stringent requirements for women who wanted abortions or sterilizations. Despite pressure from advocacy groups and women\u2019s rights activists, the law has remained unchanged since the 1996 revision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In principle, the law also affects men who seek vasectomies. They must have their spouses\u2019 consent, as well as prove that they are already fathers and that their partners would be medically jeopardized by pregnancy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In practice, however, experts say that far more clinics in Japan offer vasectomies than sterilization procedures for women.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">According to government data, doctors performed 5,130 sterilizations on both men and women in 2021, the last year for which statistics are available. No breakdowns between the sexes are available.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a statement, the Children and Families Agency, which carries out regulations under the Maternal Protection Act, said it could not comment on the litigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Kazane Kajiya, 27, testified last week that her desire not to have children was \u201ca part of my innate values.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt is precisely because these feelings cannot be changed that I just want to live, easing as much of the discomfort and psychological distress I feel about my body as possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In an interview before the hearing, Ms. Kajiya, an interpreter, said her aversion to having children was connected to a broader feminist outlook. From a very young age, she said, \u201cI witnessed male dominance all over the country and across the society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At one point, Ms. Kajiya, who is married, considered whether she was actually a transgender man. But she decided that she was \u201ctotally fine with being a woman, and I love it. I just don\u2019t like having the fertility that enables me to have babies with men.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/world\/asia\/japan-election-rural-urban.html\" title=\"\">entrenched rule<\/a> of Japan\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/05\/17\/world\/asia\/japan-same-sex-marriage.html\" title=\"\">right<\/a>&#8211;<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/09\/28\/world\/asia\/japan-liberal-democratic-party-election.html\" title=\"\">leaning<\/a> Liberal Democratic Party, along with the country\u2019s deep-rooted traditional family values, have prevented progress in reproductive rights, said Yukako Ohashi, a writer and member of the Women\u2019s Network for Reproductive Freedom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The name of the Maternal Protection Act is revealing, Ms. Ohashi said in a video interview. \u201cWomen who will become mothers shall be protected,\u201d she said. \u201cBut women who will not become mothers will not be respected. That is Japanese society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even in the United States, where any woman 21 or older is legally able to seek sterilization, some obstetricians and gynecologists <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6095126\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">counsel<\/a> their patients against the procedures, particularly when the women have <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24132925\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">not yet had children<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Similarly, in Japan, the medical profession \u201cis still very patriarchal in its thinking,\u201d said Lisa C. Ikemoto, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis. Doctors \u201coperate as a cartel to maintain certain social norms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Women themselves are often hesitant to buck societal expectations because of heavy pressure to conform.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMany people feel that trying to change the status quo is selfish,\u201d Ms. Tatsuta, the model and plaintiff, said shortly before the hearing last week. But when it comes to fighting for the right to make choices about one\u2019s own body, she said, \u201cI want everyone to be angry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/21\/world\/asia\/japan-women-sterilization.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Hisui Tatsuta was in middle school, her mother used to joke that she couldn\u2019t wait to see the faces of her future grandchildren. Ms. Tatsuta, now a 24-year-old model in Tokyo, recoiled at the assumption that she would someday give birth. As her body began to develop feminine traits, Ms. Tatsuta took to extreme [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/20\/multimedia\/00japan-sterilization1-qtpv\/00japan-sterilization1-qtpv-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[487,189,8242,92,45908,3653],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77781,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77779\/revisions\/77781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}