Tokyo, March 17, 2026 (AFP) - Japan court says restrictive sterilisation law 'lacks rationality'

NAMPA / AFP

2026-03-17

A Japanese court said Tuesday that a law hugely restricting women's access to sterilisation "lacks rationality", a ruling hailed by plaintiffs as a "step forward". The Tokyo District Court, however, stopped short of finding the decades-old "maternity protection" law -- one of the world's most restrictive barriers to sterilisation -- to be outright unconstitutional or illegal. It dismissed the five women's claim that it is denying them their right......

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