強制不妊「医学界はおわびを」　横断的検討組織求める―報告書公表・日本医学会連合

　旧優生保護法下で障害者らが不妊手術を強制された問題で、医学界の関わりなどを検証する日本医学会連合（会長・門田守人堺市立病院機構理事長）の検討会は２５日、報告書をまとめた。医療関係者らが法の制定や運用に関わり、問題を放置した点を「誠に遺憾で、被害者らに心からのおわびの表明が求められる」と指摘した。
　今後について、「優生思想」と結び付けられやすい医療では慎重な判断を要求。出生前診断やゲノム編集などを念頭に、倫理的な問題が起きないよう「学会横断的な検討組織が必要」と提言した。
　報告書を受け取った門田会長は「再発させない、類似のことが起きないようにきちんとやるのがわれわれの責務」と強調し、今後対応を検討すると話した。
　報告書では、医療者は法の存在などから、公益上必要との誤った使命感で不妊手術に関わったと指摘。医学界の一部には問題視する意見があったが、「社会全体に対する発信力は不十分だった」ため、被害者の救済が遅れる一因となったとした。（2020/06/25-18:22）

Japan's medical community must apologize for its involvement in forced sterilizations under the now-defunct eugenic protection law, the Japanese Medical Science Federation said Thursday.
   A federation panel for reviewing the issue said in a report that a heartfelt apology is needed as medical professionals were involved in the drawing up and execution of the law, which forced mainly people with disabilities to undergo surgeries or other steps for sterilization.
   The panel also proposed the establishment of a body including many medical societies to review ethical issues regarding prenatal diagnoses, genome editing and other areas that may be closely linked to eugenics.
   The report found that medical professionals were involved in forced sterilizations out of a false sense of mission, as many mistakenly believed that such procedures were necessary for the public interest due to the existence of the eugenic protection law. It added that, while some in the medical field questioned the forced sterilizations, "their voices were not strong enough toward the whole society."
   The federation, comprising 136 medical societies such as the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, set up the panel in April 2019. It had held hearings from researchers in the field of psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology as well as from people with disabilities.