Photo/Illutration Nanase Tsuruta, who has started a crowdfunding campaign to deliver emergency contraceptive drugs to teens, poses in Osaka’s Kita Ward. (Etsuko Akuzawa)

An advocacy group is launching a crowdfunding drive to make the morning-after pill easier to obtain by teens to reduce unwanted pregnancies in Japan. 

The group, called Sowledge, began developing materials and soliciting donations for sex education in Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture.

It started the campaign in February to provide young people with free emergency contraceptive drugs and important sexual health information through the Line messaging app.

“Teens know about emergency contraceptives but find it difficult to take advantage of them,” said Nanase Tsuruta, 26, head of Sowledge.

Tsuruta has long campaigned for young people to have better access to information on sexual health matters. She created toilet paper that displays such information and distributed it to schools over a period of three years.

She became engaged on the issue after learning the difficulties so many young people face through her interactions with high schoolers.

Emergency drugs can control ovulation to prevent pregnancies with a probability of 85 percent or higher, if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse, according to Sowledge.

But they are costly throughout the country.

A tablet containing anti-pregnancy agents formally approved in Japan costs between 8,000 yen ($69) and 15,000 yen. That is from 1.5 to 3 times that of the monthly average amount of pocket money parents give their teenage children.

The drugs cannot be obtained without a doctor's prescription.

The high sales prices that schoolgirls cannot afford with their pocket money and the need to see a doctor make it impractical for them to obtain the drugs within three days while attending classes.

Because of the difficulty they have in accessing these contraceptives, teens often end up pregnant, and as many as 60 percent of pregnant teens have abortions, according to Sowledge.

Sowledge is campaigning through the funding drive to offer the emergency pills free of charge to people aged 22 or younger after they consult with a doctor. The group will work with the operator of the AnyPill online prescription service.

Those in need of contraceptives are supposed to register through the project’s official Line account on a special website. They would then fill in an interview sheet for patients on AnyPill’s page. The emergency pill should reach the patient as early as the next day from when they get an online diagnosis from a doctor.

The program will start as early as May if enough funds are raised.

The official Line account would regularly teach teens about various means of birth control, sexual consent and other important related topics. And if the same people are found repeatedly taking emergency pills over a short period, organizers said they will be put in contact with welfare support groups and consultation organizations for victims of sexual violence.

In 2017, a health ministry committee discussed whether to allow pharmacies to sell emergency contraceptives over the counter.

But the plan was dropped when it met with opposition from obstetricians and gynecologists.

They raised concerns that it would allow women to take the drugs “without due consideration.”

Another reason they cited was that it would be difficult for staff at pharmacies to educate teens buying the pills on sexual matters.

A ministry expert panel in June last year started revisiting the policy option at the request of a women’s advocacy group, though many in medical circles continue to express concerns about the idea.

But Tsuruta said her project will help change the situation in Japan by reducing barriers to access the emergency contraceptives.

“We will not only help troubled youth but also monitor the demand for and usage of contraceptive drugs through free distribution,” she said. “That way, a proposal can be made to build an environment like outside Japan, where such pills are easily accessible to young people at cheaper prices.”

The crowdfunding drive, which has a goal of 20 million yen, will continue through March 25. For more details, visit the donation site at (https://camp-fire.jp/projects/view/392012).

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