March 23, 2023
Marevic Parcon and Melissa Fuller
Oxfam is dedicated to addressing the challenges faced by people in the Philippines and Canada to access reproductive health services.
The Oxfam Confederation is networked in 87 countries as part of a global movement for change. Its mission is to build lasting solutions to poverty and injustice, focusing on improving lives and promoting women’s and girls’ rights. Reproductive justice is a particular area of focus for the organization.
Philippines: Rights groups fear rollback of reproductive care
Many fear that the US move to overturn Roe v. Wade could curb tenuous rights gains in the Philippines. Abortion policies in the country are some of the most restrictive in the world.
Aug 11, 2022
Ana P. Santos
Women's rights advocates in the Philippines fear that the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States could also reverse precarious gains in reproductive and sexual health rights in the Southeast Asian country. The US ruling, which was made in 1973 and overturned in June, guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion.
Many believe that the United States' approach to reproductive health care could set the stage for the Philippines.
Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/philippines-rights-groups-fear-rollback-of-reproductive-care/a-62781467
By KAELA MALIG, GMA News
Published May 25, 2021
Women's rights organizations urged legislators to decriminalize abortion as women continue to die from unsafe abortion complications.
In a media workshop on Tuesday, EnGendeRights executive director Atty. Claire Padilla said that the restrictive 1930 Revised Penal Code abortion law has not stopped the number of women from inducing abortion but has only endangered lives of hundreds of women who undergo unsafe abortions due to several personal reasons.
Women's rights orgs urge authorities to decriminalize abortion
By KAELA MALIG, GMA News
Published May 25, 2021
Women's rights organizations urged legislators to decriminalize abortion as women continue to die from unsafe abortion complications.
In a media workshop on Tuesday, EnGendeRights executive director Atty. Claire Padilla said that the restrictive 1930 Revised Penal Code abortion law has not stopped the number of women from inducing abortion but has only endangered lives of hundreds of women who undergo unsafe abortions due to several personal reasons.
NME talks to artists and organisers behind the eclectic compilation, which is out today
By Michael Beltran
30th April 2021
A number of Philippines artists, including BP Valenzuela and Aly Cabral of The Buildings, have joined forces on ‘Pasya’, a compilation advocating the destigmatisation and decriminalisation of abortion in the country.
Digitally released today (April 30), the 12-track album – whose title means ‘choice’ – is also a collaboration between several pro-choice and advocacy groups: It was spearheaded by the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) and is a collaboration with the Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network (PINSAN) and Filipino Freethinkers, with support from Safe Abortion Action Fund (SAAF) and Abortion Conversation Projects (ACP).
Because unsafe abortion is an issue of public health, human rights, and social justice
Published April 16, 2021
by John Legaspi
Humanity has been making things taboo for a handful of reasons. Often, these are things they don’t know much about. Sometimes, they do know some things about it but reject further information. In other cases, they are given unfair images about the subject. In the case of abortion, unfortunately, it ticks all the boxes.
In the past, we rarely saw good materials about abortion. People who try to speak about it are always met with judging eyes. But thanks to modern media and art, discussions about abortion have once again arisen. Who could forget about that abortion episode in “Sex Education” or that 2020 art exhibit “Abortion is Normal” in the US? Organizations like Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) and Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network (PINSAN) has been doing the same thing in the Philippines, particularly, in advocating for safe abortion.
Continued: https://mb.com.ph/2021/04/16/this-music-album-presents-tales-about-abortion-we-need-to-understand/
Canada pledges P44.5 million in COVID-19 aid to Philippines
(Philstar.com) - June 10, 2020
MANILA, Philippines — Canada said it is providing P44.5 million worth of assistance to support the country’s fight against the spread of coronavirus disease.
In a statement Wednesday, the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines said Ottawa will donate 120,000 pieces of N95 masks worth around P29.5 million.
Also part of Canada’s aid is the provision of around P15.2 million to “ensure the unhampered provision of sexual and reproductive health services during COVID-19.”
How bitter herbs and botched abortions kill three women a day in the Philippines
In a country where more than 65% of women don’t use contraceptives and terminating pregnancy is illegal, ‘torturous’ practices are often the only option
Claudine Spera in Manila
Monday 10 July 2017
Outside the gates of Manila’s Quiapo church, deals are being done. Bitter herbs and abortion medication are traded illegally.
Next to an imposing statue depicting a foetus clasped in the hands of Christ, stalls offer an array of rosary beads, amulets, mangoes and songbirds. Here, the abortion pill misoprostol is on sale for just $5 (£3.90), as well as the herb pamparegla, which can induce menstruation and end pregnancy. All this goes on in the shadows of the largest Catholic church in Manila.
Continued at source: The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jul/10/how-bitter-herbs-and-botched-abortions-kill-three-women-a-day-in-the-philippines
Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights
It's time to start mobilizing for September 28, the Global Day of Action Celebrating International Safe Abortion Day! This year's theme is "Abortion Stories as Diverse as Shoes - Step Into Our Stories, Step Into Our Shoes."
Click on the link below to download the CAMPAIGN TOOLKIT!
[continued at link]
(PRESS RELEASE) The Philippine government must ensure access to modern contraceptives and legalize abortion in certain circumstances, according to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (U.N. CEDAW).
In its recommendations, the U.N. CEDAW expressed concern about the inconsistent implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act (RPRHA), which was enacted in 2012 and guarantees universal access to modern contraceptives. The U.N. CEDAW further expressed concern about the absence of an effective mechanism to monitor implementation of the RPRHA, as well as the increasing number of unsafe abortions among adolescent girls in the Philippines.
The Philippines has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world, imposing a criminal ban on abortion with no clear exceptions. Despite this ban, abortion is common and estimates by the Guttmacher Institute show an increase in its incidence—from approximately 560,000 in 2008 to 610,000 in 2012. Under the RPRHA, abortion remains illegal and punishable as a crime. Proposed amendments to the current penal code aim to increase the penalties for abortion.
Said Melissa Upreti, regional director for Asia at the Center for Reproductive Rights:
“Women in the Philippines have a legal right to modern contraceptives, yet they continue to be barred from getting the reproductive health services they need.
“We commend the U.N. Committee for once again urging the government to fully ensure women’s reproductive health and end discrimination against women by providing access to modern contraceptives and legalizing abortion.
“The Reproductive Health Act was a historic victory for women in the Philippines, but it’s time the government make this law a reality for women who deserve to make their own reproductive health choices and live with dignity.”
The Center, Catholics for Reproductive Health, EnGendeRights, International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, Population Services Pilipinas Inc., WomanHealth Philippines Inc. and Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights submitted a joint letter to the U.N. CEDAW emphasizing how the failure to ensure humane and nonjudgmental post-abortion care and provide effective access to justice for reproductive rights violations discriminates against women and girls and egregiously violates their fundamental human rights.
The U.N. CEDAW recommendations also highlight the committee’s concerns regarding bans on modern contraceptives that still exist in part because the Philippine government has not formally declared Executive Orders 003 and 030 of Manila City unlawful—leading to confusion among local health care providers and denials of reproductive health services for women and adolescent girls. In February 2015, the U.N CEDAW also expressed concerns about Executive Order 3 issued by Sorsogon City, which has similarly resulted in the withdrawal of modern contraceptives from local health facilities. An order issued by the Supreme Court in 2015 barring government agencies from approving certain contraceptives has further compounded lack of access to modern contraceptives throughout the country.
In May 2015, U.N. CEDAW released a report criticizing the government for failing to prioritize women’s human rights over religious ideology and cultural stereotypes. U.N. CEDAW experts traveled to the Philippines in November 2012 to conduct a special inquiry under article 8 of the Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women – the first ever in Asia and the first on sexual and reproductive health and rights - after the Center and other NGOs submitted evidence of human rights violations women were facing mainly due to Executive Order 003, which effectively banned women’s access to modern contraceptives in Manila City. The inquiry request was based on the Center and Likhaan’s report Imposing Misery.
The U.N. CEDAW unequivocally reiterated its call for the Philippine government to immediately and fully implement all of the recommendations resulting from the special inquiry, including:
The Center has been working across Asia for over a decade, including conducting advocacy with local partners to ensure access to modern contraception and safe abortion in the Philippines.
Source: Center for Reproductive Rights
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