Infanticide and Abortion (continued)

"The weak economy, a postwar baby boom, and the spectre of mixed children fathered by Occupation troops, inspired the 1948 Eugenic Protection Law, which allowed an abortion for 'economic reasons'" (Condon).

While Japan has been slow to legalize the pill, it was one of the first countries to legalize abortion. Scholar Jane Condon points out, "Britian legalized it in 1976, the United States and Denmark in 1973, Sweden and Australia in 1974, France in 1875, and even predominantly Catholic Italy followed suit in 1978.) And Japan became known internationally as an abortion haven" (Condon).

99 percent of all abortions today are still performed for "economic" reasons. Today, Japan has a falling birthrate -- an interesting fact when considering the speedy aprooval of Viagra and the reluctance of Japan to legalize the Pill (Condon).

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