By: Cristina Eloisa Baclig
November 07, 2022
MANILA, Philippines—The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) called on the Philippine government to decriminalize abortion and improve sexual and reproductive health services such as post-abortion healthcare in the country.
UNHRC, in a recently released concluding observation at its 136th session, said it acknowledged the Philippines’ “efforts to reduce unsafe abortion and maternal mortality.”
By: Cristina Eloisa Baclig
June 29, 2022
MANILA, Philippines—Last week, in a historic decision, the US Supreme Court shocked the world as it officially overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling recognizing women’s constitutional right to abortion.
The 1973 ruling in the landmark Supreme Court case known as Roe v. Wide guarantees a woman’s right to an abortion in the United States in the absence of any federal laws on the procedure.
Vice President Leni Robredo, presidential candidate, has fallen short of supporting some progressive causes that gender advocates have long fought for, but some are willing to bank on her track record of consulting and listening
MAR 23, 2022
MICHELLE ABAD
MANILA, Philippines – Lone female presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo has disappointed some of the women she claims to empower.
As media interviews, debates, and forums went into full swing with the election season, the presidential candidates were asked what they thought about divorce, abortion, and same-sex marriage – three issues the country is deeply divided about.
Continued: https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/feminists-assess-robredo-conservative-gender-stance/
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.
OCT 26, 2020
BONZ MAGSAMBOL
'There are a lot of reasons why women need to get an abortion. It's not just unwanted pregnancy. There are victims of abuse and rape,' shares one guest.
"We want to give women options whenever they face a particular situation, and that’s not something we can judge them for."
This was what Shiph Belonguel, youth reproductive health rights advocate, said during the 3rd episode of Spilling the Tea, a webinar series held by Rappler and SheDecides Philippines, a movement that promotes the fundamental rights of adolescent girls and women.
Continued: https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/relationships/advocates-push-decriminalization-abortion
Unintended consequences of ECQ: Unplanned and unwanted pregnancies
Bernice Beltran
Posted at May 10 2020
After seeing her brother locked up in a city jail despite being a minor for charges that were withdrawn, Michelle (not her real name) discovered how poor families like hers are not treated fairly.
Since then, the 15-year-old girl from Tondo dreamed of becoming a lawyer but she was forced to set aside her ambition after learning that she was six months pregnant last January.
Part 1 of 3: Filipinas buy, sell, rate abortions in online forum
In the Philippines, abortion is illegal and deeply stigmatized, leaving desperate women with no choice but to seek unsafe options online
By Natashya Gutierrez
August 13, 2018
MANILA, Philippines – It was a desperate cry for help.
On the evening of August 2, 2015, a woman with username "aifa2500" posted on an online forum in the Philippines. She had gotten an abortion a day prior, from a backstreet abortionist she referred to as "Miss Shine."
In broken English, she explained that she had gone for her procedure to abort her 6-month-old fetus. Upon arrival, she explained she was made to go to the toilet to pee, before being asked to remove her pants and underwear because “she's going to put the catheter to push the baby out.”
Continued: https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/208267-online-forum-sells-abortions-in-the-philippines
Right to Safe and Legal Abortion, Divorce, Marriage Equality and Women’s Affirmative Action Missing in PDu30 SONA
July 23, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Quezon City, July 23, 2017 – “In President Duterte’s SONA speech, the rights to safe and legal abortion, divorce, marriage equality and women’s affirmative action were blatantly missing. If we recall, after the recent President’s meeting with the CBCP, it was mentioned in the news that President Duterte and the CBCP were in agreement as regards the issues on divorce, abortion, and marriage equality. It is unfortunate that the passage of laws that would have far-reaching impact on the rights of women and LGBTI people were absent in his speech,” said Atty. Clara Rita Padilla, Executive Director of EnGendeRights.
“In the draft Constitution that the President is supporting, no woman sits in the Consultative Committee and it is no surprise that the draft itself does not contain affirmative action ensuring women’s representation in Congress and the proposed Constitutional Courts, among others. The Filipino populace would eventually reject this draft as the mere process of drafting itself is questionable as women were left out in the process and women’s rights are glaringly absent in the draft,” said Atty. Padilla.
“For instance, since Philippine jurisprudence recognizes that therapeutic abortion is allowed to save the life of the woman as held in the 1961 Supreme Court case of Geluz v. CA, it is high time that Congress repeal the restrictive provisions in the Revised Penal Code to expressly allow safe and legal abortion on demand or at the very least on various grounds such as risk to the health and life of the woman, rape, fetal impairment, and other reasons the woman might want to seek abortion such as socio-economic reasons, among others,” added Atty. Padilla.
“In the 2017 SONA, President Duterte mentioned that he was against abortion, however, there are many cases where therapeutic abortion can be allowed to save the life of a woman or to prevent disability. Pregnant women with conditions such as dwarfism, hypertensive disorders, tuberculosis, diabetes, bronchial asthma, goiter, HIV, malaria, severe anemia, malnutrition, and pregnant women who are less than 18 or greater than 35 years of age, have a fourth or more children, are battered by their husbands or partners, and have spinal metal plates may die from complications from pregnancy and childbirth and may need access to safe abortion to save their lives and prevent life-long disability,” added Atty. Padilla.
“There are women who become suicidal because of their pregnancy. These include rape victim-survivors who suffer depression, become suicidal, and resort to clandestine and unsafe abortion. Some incest rape victim-survivors who became pregnant after being raped by their own fathers whether adolescents or adults have resorted to clandestine and unsafe abortion risking their health and lives. About one in every nine Filipino women who induce abortion are rape victim-survivors. Without access to safe and legal abortion, they end up part of the statistics of women who die from unsafe abortion complications. These cases fall under the ambit of therapeutic abortions to save the life and health of the woman,” explained Atty. Padilla.
“Because of lack of access to safe and legal abortion in the Philippines, in 2012, there were about three Filipino women who died every day from complications from unsafe abortion. Many women report being treated inhumanely when they are rushed to the hospitals to get treatment for complications for their self-induced abortions. And because of the restrictive abortion law and judgment passed on women, it is not only the women who induce abortions who are treatly harshly but also women who suffer complications from spontaneous abortions, miscarriages after being beaten by their abusive husbands, and fetal death. I hope our representatives in the Philippine government will realize how these human rights violations are so pervasive in our society and they just simply can’t turn a blind eye on this important issue. I hope the Philippines will soon decriminalize abortion since presently abortion is only recognized in our country to save the woman's life and for medical necessity based on a 1961 supreme Court decision,” added Atty. Padilla.
Abortion is common in the Philippines with about 70 women inducing abortion every hour and about 11 women hospitalized every hour from unsafe abortion complications in 2012. The number of women who have induced abortion in 2018 would be significantly higher since the number of women inducing abortion increases proportionally with the growing Philippine population.
Unsafe abortion is the third leading cause of maternal death and is a leading cause of hospitalizations.
There are various reasons why Filipino women undergo abortion. Filipino women induce abortion due to various reasons such as:
- Economic
- Inability to afford the cost of raising a child or an additional child –75% of the women
- Too soon (having enough children or their pregnancy came too soon after their last birth) – more than half of the women
- Age/Too young – 46% were women younger than 25
- Health risks – nearly one-third of the women
- Rape - 13% of the women
- Pregnancy not supported by Partner/Family - one-third of the women
Most of the women who are hospitalized and die from complications from unsafe abortion are poor, Roman Catholics, married, with at least three children, and have at least a high school education. Poor women comprise two-thirds of those who induce abortion, using riskier abortion methods, thus disproportionately experiencing severe complications —clearly showing that lack of access to safe abortion is a social justice issue.
The archaic Spanish colonial law on abortion in our 1930 Revised Penal Code has not decreased the number of women who induce abortion rather it has made it dangerous for women who resort to clandestine and unsafe abortion.***
Contact Person:
Atty. Clara Rita “Claire” A. Padilla
Executive Director
EnGendeRights, Inc.
Mobile: (+63)918-2182682
Email: engenderights@gmail.com;
padillaclara@yahoo.com
Blog: http://clararitapadilla.blogspot.com
Like us: https://www.facebook.com/engenderightsphilippines
Twitter: @Clara Rita Padilla
Duterte told: Therapeutic abortion allowed to save women’s lives
By: Tonette Orejas
Inquirer Central Luzon
July 26, 2017
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Therapeutic abortion, or the medical procedure that terminates pregnancy to be able to save the life of a woman, is allowed in the Philippines, according to a women’s health group.
The group made the statement in reaction to the anti-abortion posture President Duterte expressed in his State of the Nation Address on Monday.
“In Philippine jurisprudence, it is recognized that therapeutic abortion is allowed to save the life of the woman,” lawyer Clara Rita Padilla, EnGendeRights executive director, said.
Continued at source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/917566/duterte-told-therapeutic-abortion-allowed-to-save-womens-lives
(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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