Overview
- The court ruled the law’s sterilization prohibition constitutional and dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims for damages and status confirmation.
- The five women, all in their 20s and 30s, filed an appeal immediately after the judgment.
- Presiding Judge Masayuki Kamano recognized a constitutional freedom of contraception but said Article 13 does not guarantee a right to sterilization.
- The ruling criticized the law’s criteria as lacking rationality and urged appropriate review of the system.
- The statute permits sterilization only in narrow cases and requires spousal consent, and domestic clinics had refused the plaintiffs, with one obtaining surgery overseas.