Tokyo court rules against women’s right to voluntary sterilization
The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit challenging Japan’s restrictions on voluntary sterilization, ruling that the country’s current legal framework does not violate constitutional protections of bodily autonomy or gender equality.The lawsuit, the first of its kind, was brought by Kazane Kajiya, 29, and four other plaintiffs who want to be sterilized after feeling discomfort for decades of their reproductive capacity and society’s expectation for women to bear children.Women should have the right to determine what to do with their own bodies, not the government, the plaintiffs said.
