Contraception
By JEFF KINGSTON
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避妊法をめぐって
菅厚相は、経口避妊薬の使用を認めるという政府の方針を発表した。ピルはほぼ100%の避妊率を誇るが、副作用や、エイズなど性病のまん延を招くという理由で、解禁に反対する声も多い。しかし…。
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Naoto Kan, one of the few politicians with guts in Japan, has announced that the
government plans to approve use of the birth
control pill. Finally, women in Japan can join 90 million women
worldwide who safely use low dosage
tablets. The lifting of the ban on oral contraceptives is the right thing to do.
For too long Japanese women have been denied a choice for spurious reasons.
Medical experts in Japan argue that the pill
has been banned to protect women from potentially
harmful side effects. However, the
result of relying on the condom, the leading birth control method in Japan,
has been a very high number of abortions. Rubbers have a
notoriously high failure rate ―about 15
percent of pregnancies are attributed to such failures.
The pill is
nearly 100 percent effective in preventing
pregnancy. If medical experts are so concerned about the side effects of birth control
pills, what about the various medical problems associated with abortions and unwanted pregnancies? Doctors know that
pregnancy itself is potentially more harmful to a women's health than the
new low dosage pills and early termination of
pregnancy by abortion is also potentially more dangerous.
Women
need reliable contraception. Last year
343,000 women reported having abortions in
Japan, one of the highest rates per capita
among developed nations. Allowing women to use the pill would
drastically reduce the number of women having abortions. Doctors who
perform abortions are likely to lose a big chunk of income. I do not agree with
Christian fundamentalists in the U.S. who
want to eliminate the choice of abortion.
Rather, it is important to understand the economic reasons why the pill has
been banned in Japan, and the health reasons why it should be approved.
There is also concern that legalizing the pill might lead to a spread of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), including
HIV. But even without the pill, STDs have
been spreading in Japan. Condoms can help prevent STDs, but only if they are
used. The spread of STDs in Japan confirms
suspicions that sexual partner don't always practice safe sex. Studies do
not reveal any correlation between the prevalence of the pill and STDs in other countries. Safe sex, good
communication and responsible attitudes and practices are the answer, with
or without the pill.
About 200,000 Japanese women have been using high
dosage pills often prescribed for menstrual problems. Ironically, this exception permitting the use of higher dosage
pills means that Japanese women are only able to get pills with more
potential for harmful side effects.
The issue of side effects also needs to be scrutinized. There is some suspicion that the
pill increases a women's risk of breast
cancer, thrombosis and blood clots but there is also evidence suggesting that the pill protects
women from cancer of the uterus. It also
seems that newer, lower dosage pills do not carry the same risk as pills used
by patients in previous clinical trials. What
does seem certain is that cigarettes are far more damaging to a women's
health than any pill. If women are given the choice of smoking, why not given
them the choice of reliable birth control?
ST
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