NARA - Each year in Japan there are over 200,000 abortions. Every two weeks, a newborn infant dies of abandonment. And each year, more than 50 children lose their lives to physical abuse at the hands of their parents.
This is according to the nonprofit Migiwa, based in Nara Prefecture, western Japan.
Migiwa's mission is to protect unwanted babies, acting as a mediator to help place them with new families through plenary adoption. Such cases often involve birth mothers choosing to give up their right to raise their child with a disability such as Down syndrome.
Although the health ministry has offered a lower estimate of roughly 122,000 abortions occurring in fiscal 2022, organizations such as NPO Florence say that one newborn baby dies every two weeks in Japan due to abuse and neglect or from being abandoned in parks and other public spaces.
The Japan Network for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect also reports more than 50 deaths due to abuse occurring each year, meaning one child loses his or her life every week.
