Illegalization of Abortion in the Philippines

Introduction

According to Sciencedaily.com (2019), abortion is the ending of pregnancy by removing

a fetus or embryo before it can survive outside the uterus. Historically, abortions have been
attempted using herbal medicines, sharp took, with force or through other traditional methods. In
many places there is much debate over moral, ethical and legal issues of abortion. Those who
oppose abortion often maintain that an embryo or fetus is a human with a right to life and may
compare abortion to murder.

In Article 11 of the 1987 Philippines constitution says, in part, “Section 12. The State
recognizes the Sanctity of the family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic
autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the
unborn from conception”.

If abortion will be legalize, our natural right will be ignored which is the right to live and
promote and protect life, however, choosing abortion is the right thing to do to those who are
force in childbirth.

Summary of Counterclaims

If ever abortion will be legalized, it could provide safety because women can receive the
proper health care required to make sure they are safe and don’t sustain any life threatening
injuries from an unprofessional.

However, abortion is not the option, thus pregnant women need support and help. PPFI
advocated more education programs, maternal and child care services and economic and social
development programs that would help stop “rape, incest, sex outside of marriage and other
causes of unwanted pregnancies”.

Another one is, the legalization of abortion would give a peace of mind to the woman,
especially when the pregnancy was a result of rape. She could become depressed, resent the
child, be reminded of her experience every time she sets eyes on her pregnant belly or her child,
and she needs to undergo abortion because of the certain condition.

But as Josephine Imbong, a CBCP Legal Counsel said, abortion should not be allowed
under any circumstances, including rape or incest. It will not give peace of mind to the mother,
hence, her conscience will be chasing her for taking the life of the unborn child, well in fact, it is
not the baby’s fault. The mother should accuse not the baby but the person who was the reason
of her suffering.

Argument

According to Clarke (2018), abortion is not safe to women’s health. It is dangerous

because it maintains the status who where many medical providers threaten women with
prosecution in cases of intrauterine fetal death, spontaneous abortion due to trauma from intimate
partner violence and self-induced abortion. In year 2012, it shows that 610,000 women resorted
to abortion, over 100,000 women were hospitalized and 3 women die every day due to unsafe
abortion complications. According also to methodology, estimates of deaths vary and it have
ranged from 37,000 to 70,000 in the past decade, deaths from unsafe abortion account for around
13% of all maternal death.

Abortion is a crime. Individual human life begins at fertilization, and therefore abortion is
the immoral killing of an innocent human being. It inflicts suffering on the unborn child, and
that, it is unfair to allow abortion when couples who cannot biologically conceive are waiting to
adopt. A push to legalize abortion in the Philippines is “unacceptable” because the country

“Should be saving lives, not taking them.” The act is criminalized by Philippine law. Articles
256,258 AND 259 0f the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines mandate imprisonment for
women who undergo abortion, as well as for any person who assist in the procedure. According
to CPCP New, the Pro- Life Philippines Foundation, Inc. (PPFI) has countered that induced
abortion is “ the deliberate termination of the life of an innocent human being and therefore, it is
a crime.”

Life begins at conception, so unborn babies are human being with a right to life. Upon
fertilization, human individual is created with a unique genetic identity that remains unchanged
throughout his or her life. This individual has a fundamental right to life, which must be
protected. Jerome Lejeune, the French geneticist who discovered the chromosome abnormality
that causes Down syndrome, stated that “To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place
a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion. The human nature of
human being from conception to old age is not a metaphysical contention, it is plain
experimental evidence.”
Conclusion

Therefore, we conclude that abortion is not safe to women’s health because there are
complications due to unsafe abortion. There are also providers threaten women with prosecution
in cases of intrauterine fetal dental and spontaneous abortion due to trauma from self induced
abortion.

Abortion is also considered as a crime because the human life begins at fertilization, and
killing an innocent human being is immoral.

Life begins at conception, so, unborn babies are human being with a right to life. This
individual has a fundamental right to life, which must be protected.

"Think carefully of your actions, it is where your future depends. "

-Romina Noriega
(2015)