Advocates of the pill's approval argued that the two issues must be discussed separately and that women have a right to access to the birth control pill. The committee, in essence, did not give an opinion either way on whether or not to approve the pill. Its report said that, should the pill be used, condoms should also be used. The committee's report can now be read as saying that it is OK to approve the pill. The committee's lack of a negative stance will aid the pill's approval by the Health Ministry's Pharmaceutical Council, the last hurdle to official approval.
Japan remains the only major country in the world which bans the pill for contraceptive purposes.
The Army has announced that it will close the hotline it set up in November of 1996 to address the Aberdeen sex scandal. The hotline will close as of Friday, June 20th. The Army said it was closing the hotline because it had accomplished its job, and calls had dwindled in recent weeks. A sexual harassment and sexual abuse assistance line will supplant the hotline in 30 days or less. Which Best Market to Women MacDonald Communications Corporation announced at the 1997 Marketing to Women Congress that it will sponsor an award to companies that do an outstanding job reaching women through marketing.