While looking for information for my Japanese anti-grope phone application post I came across the article Slow Life, Slow Sex: Pregnancy in middle age far from inconceivable on a Japanese news site. It seems to be a article giving medical advice, but if you read between the lines it gives an insight into ethics of contraception in Japan.
The article starts off by talking about how women should be careful to use contraception so as not to get pregnant. That it is still possible to get pregnant until they reach menopause somewhere between 45 and 56.
The article advises using the pill, and/or an IUD. And if you really don’t want to get pregnant consider sterilization.
There is no mention of condoms.
The article also touches the issue of abortion. The article says “I don’t blindly condemn abortion“, but that “until there is a 100 percent effective method of birth control, pregnancy is something that can happen“.
And the article doesn’t actually use the word contraception it refers to birth control.
If you read between the lines you will notice that there is no mention of men being involved with contraception. Birth control is emphasised as being the responsibility of the woman.
Do you think this is an ethical approach? Should men in Japan take more responsibility for contraception?
Do people in Australia take a similar approach? Is contraception still a woman’s responsibility here?
On a side note, abortion is one of the most commonly used ‘contraceptives’ in Japan.