STUDY ON CRIME OF ABORTION - IN THE LIGHT OF COMPARATIVE LAW AND BASED ON STATISTICAL DATA

• NCJ Number: 48236
• Author(s): A KAZAMATSURI; T SATO; S SUGIHARA
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 3 pages
• Corporate Author: Japan Ministry of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Country: Japan
• Note: FROM BULLETIN OF THE CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, JAPAN THIS ENGLISH VERSION WAS PREPARED BY MR. KENSAKU HASHIMOTO, INFORMATION AND LIAISON OFFICE, SECRETARIAT SECTION, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, JAPAN

Annotation

TRENDS IN ABORTION LAWS IN JAPAN SINCE WORLD WAR II ARE EXAMINED, AND ABORTION STATISTICS ARE PRESENTED.

Abstract

ABORTION IS BASICALLY PROHIBITED IN JAPAN UNDER THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS: SELF-INDUCED ABORTION; ABORTION WITH CONSENT; ABORTION THROUGH PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT; AND ABORTION WITHOUT CONSENT. THE EUGENIC PROTECTION LAW, ENACTED IN 1948, PERMITS AN ARTIFICIAL INTERRUPTION OF PREGNANCY ON EUGENIC, LEPROUS, MEDICAL OR SOCIOMEDICAL, AND ETHICAL GROUNDS. A DRAFT AMENDMENT TO THE EUGENIC PROTECTION LAW, PROPOSING REVISIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE GROUNDS FOR LEGITIMATE ABORTION HAVE BEEN PRESENTED FREQUENTLY TO THE LEGISLATURE SINCE 1972, BUT HAVE FAILED TO PASS. IN 1974, A DRAFT REVISION OF THE PENAL CODE KEPT THE LAWS RELATING TO ABORTION UNCHANGED, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE DELETION OF THE SECTION RELATING TO ABORTION THROUGH PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND ITS REPLACEMENT WITH ABORTION ACCOMPLISHED FOR PERSONAL GAIN. ALSO, A FINE WAS INCLUDED AS AN ADDITIONAL STATUTORY PUNISHMENT FOR SELF-INDUCED ABORTION. ALMOST NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF INTERRUPTIONS OF PREGNANCY HAVE BEEN A RESULT OF THREATS TO THE MOTHER'S HEALTH. THE HIGHEST FIGURE FOR ABORTION PROSECUTIONS WAS 930 IN 1948, WITH A CONTINUING DECREASE FROM THAT TIME, WITH THE AVERAGE ANNUAL FIGURE BEING LESS THAN 100 AFTER 1954. IN 1975, THE NUMBER WAS LESS THAN 10. ABORTION PROSECUTIONS OCCUR MOST OFTEN IN CASES WHERE DEATH OR INJURY RESULTS FROM THE OPERATION. (RCB)