Abortion before Birth Control: The Politics of Reproduction in Postwar Japan

by Tiana Norgren, Christiana Norgren

Overview

Why has postwar Japanese abortion policy been relatively progressive, while contraception policy has been relatively conservative? The Japanese government legalized abortion in 1948 but did not approve the pill until 1999. In this carefully researched study, Tiana Norgren argues that these contradictory policies flowed from very different historical circumstances and interest group configurations. Doctors and family planners used a small window of opportunity during the Occupation to legalize abortion, and afterwards, doctors and women battled religious groups to uphold the law. The pill, on the other hand, first appeared at an inauspicious moment in history. Until circumstances began to change in the mid-1980s, the pharmaceutical industry was the pill's lone champion: doctors, midwives, family planners, and women all opposed the pill as a potential threat to their livelihoods, abortion rights, and women's health.

Clearly written and interwoven with often surprising facts about Japanese history and politics, Norgren's book fills vital gaps in the cross-national literature on the politics of reproduction, a subject that has received more attention in the European and American contexts. Abortion Before Birth Control will be a valuable resource for those interested in abortion and contraception policies, gender studies, modern Japanese history, political science, and public policy. This is a major contribution to the literature on reproductive rights and the role of civil society in a country usually discussed in the context of its industrial might.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400843862
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	12/08/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	258
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Tiana Norgren is a Senior Program Associate in the Program on reproductive Health and Rights at the Open Society Institute. She has a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.

Table of Contents

	Illustrations	ix
	Preface	xi
	Abbreviations	xv
Chapter 1	Introduction	3
Chapter 2	The Politics of Interests	12
Chapter 3	For the Good of the Nation: Prewar Abortion and Contraception Policy	22
Chapter 4	Japan Legalizes Abortion: The Intersection of National and Professional Interests	36
Chapter 5	The Politics of Abortion: Movements to Revise the Eugenic Protection Law (1952-2000)	53
Chapter 6	Abortion before Birth Control: Japanese Contraception Policy (1945-1960)	83
Chapter 7	The Politics of the Pill (1955-2000)	103
Chapter 8	Conclusion	133
	Appendix	139
	Notes	159
	Bibliography	217
	Index	233

What People are Saying About This

Eileen McDonagh

Abortion Before Birth Control is rich in information and a joy to read. Its careful, historical investigation of the political record underlying the abortion debate in Japan in the context of sterilization and birth control legislation provides a crucial cross-policy analysis as a foundation to its insightful cross-cultural perspectives.
— Eileen McDonagh, Northeastern University

From the Publisher

"Although others have written about birth control in post-war Japan, Norgren succeeds in offering the most persuasive historical and political account of the issue to date. Not content to offer a monocausal explanation, Norgren astutely periodizes the various debates and offers a number of surprises. This work not only illuminates the complexities surrounding debates over reproductive policies, but also will compel rethinking about feminist politics and policymaking, as well as tell us new things about political activism by the medical establishment."—Sheldon Garon, Princeton University

"Abortion Before Birth Control is rich in information and a joy to read. Its careful, historical investigation of the political record underlying the abortion debate in Japan in the context of sterilization and birth control legislation provides a crucial cross-policy analysis as a foundation to its insightful cross-cultural perspectives."—Eileen McDonagh, Northeastern University

Sheldon Garon

Although others have written about birth control in post-war Japan, Norgren succeeds in offering the most persuasive historical and political account of the issue to date. Not content to offer a monocausal explanation, Norgren astutely periodizes the various debates and offers a number of surprises. This work not only illuminates the complexities surrounding debates over reproductive policies, but also will compel rethinking about feminist politics and policymaking, as well as tell us new things about political activism by the medical establishment.
— Sheldon Garon, Princeton University

Editorial Reviews

"A thorough history of the shifting historical circumstances and the interest-group configurations that have affected birth control policies since World War II."—-Elise K. Tipton, American Historical Review

From the Publisher

A thorough history of the shifting historical circumstances and the interest-group configurations that have affected birth control policies since World War II.

American Historical Review - Elise K. Tipton

A thorough history of the shifting historical circumstances and the interest-group configurations that have affected birth control policies since World War II.
— Elise K. Tipton

American Historical Review