Abortion and Philippines Laws

Abortion is illegal in the Philippines and is not permitted under any circumstance. The act is criminalized
by the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, which was enacted in 1930 butremains in effect to day.
Articles 256, 258 and 259 of the Code mandate imprisonment for thewoman who undergoes the
abortion, as well as for any person who assists in the procedure, evenif they be the woman's parents, a
physician or midwife. Article 258 further imposes a higher prison term on the woman or her parents if
the abortion is undertaken "in order to conceal [thewoman's] dishonor" (Tan 2008 and Wikipedia
2008).The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines effectively any amendments to the Penal Code’s
provisions on abortion because of Article II, Section 12, which states:

“The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as abasic
autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn
from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic
efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.”

In the principle, legalizing abortion would require a referendum to amend theconstitution, although the
enactment of a more definitive provision sanctioning the ban was notsuccessful. In 1999, Congressman
Roy Padilla Jr. of Camarines Norte filed House Bill 6343seeking to allow abortion in special cases (e.g.,
rape, congenital defects in the fetus or caseswhere the mother’s life is endangered). It is unlikely that the
bill will be passed but it hasstimulated discussion on abortion. The passage of HB 6343 will require
amendment because theBill as it presently stands is inherently unconstitutional (Wikipedia 2008 and Tan
2008).The United Nations recognizes that abortion in the Philippines is permitted only ininstances in
which the pregnant woman's life is endangered. However, there is no law in thePhilippines that expressly
authorizes abortions in order to save the woman's life; and the general provisions which do penalize
abortion make no qualifications if the woman's life is endangered.It may be argued that an abortion to
save the mother's life could be classified as a justifyingcircumstance (duress as opposed to self-defense)
that would bar criminal prosecution under theRevised Penal Code. However, this position has yet to be
adopted or debunked by the PhilippineSupreme Court. Proposals to liberalize Philippine abortion laws
have been opposed by the Catholic Church, and its opposition has considerable influence in the
predominantly Catholic country (Wikipedia 2008).

Prevelance of Abortion

Unintended pregnancy is the root cause of abortion. Some 3.1 million pregnancies occur each year in the
Philippines. Of these, 15% result in induced abortions, 31% in unplanned births,39% in planned births
and 15% in spontaneous abortions. An estimated 473,000 abortions occur annually. One-third of women
who experience an unintended pregnancy end it in abortion. Thus,about 1.43 million pregnancies each
year—nearly half of all pregnancies— are unintended. Theannual rate of unintended pregnancy is 81 per
1,000 women of reproductive age, meaning thatabout 8% of Filipino women aged 15–44 conceive every
year without intending to do so.Women from all segments of society experience abortion. Women who
have had anabortion resemble average Filipino women: The majority are married, Catholic and poor.
Theyhave some high school education and have already had several children. In 2000, women in
thePhilippines had more than 473,000 induced abortions—compared with an estimated 400,000 in
1994.

Because the population also grew during this period, the rate of induced abortion remainedessentially
constant—25 abortions per 1,000 women in 1994 and 27 per 1,000 in 2000.Figure 2. Estimated abortion
rate, by survey year and region.At the national level, little change occurred between 1994 and 2000 in
the proportion of all pregnancies that were unintended or the rate of unintended pregnancy. However,
both indicators increased substantially in Metro Manila. By 2000, more than half (56%) of pregnancies in
this area were unintended than in any other major geographic region, a substantial increase from 1994
(46%), and the unintended pregnancy rate was 97 per 1,000 women, up from68 in 1998. The situation
differed in the other major areas of the country.

In Rest of Luzon and in Mindanao, the proportion of pregnancies that were unintended changed little
during this period, but the unintended pregnancy rate declined somewhat, from 85 to 78 per 1,000
women in Luzon and from 84 to 80 per 1,000 women in Mindanao, probably because the overall
pregnancy rate fell in these regions. Visayas, the area with the highest unintended pregnancy rate in
1994, showed the most improvement, achieving an unintended pregnancy rate of 78 per 1,000 women
by 2000 (down from 91 per 1,000 in 1994) and experiencing a small drop in the proportion of
pregnancies that were unintended, from 48% to 44% (Singh et al. 2006). The national abortion rate
changed little between 1994 and 2000; however, large increases occurred in metropolitan Manila (from
41 to 52) and Visayas (from 11 to 17). The proportions of unplanned births and unintended pregnancies
increased substantially in Manila, and the use of traditional contraceptive methods increased in Manila
and Visayas(Juarez et al. 2005). Between 1994 and 2000, abortion rates did not change much nationally,
but theyincreased in Metro Manila and Visayas. Rates of abortion in each region are expected to be
related to the level of use of moderncontraceptives, as well as the level of unmet need for
contraception. Yet in some regions, such as Metro Manila, Ilocos Region and Central Visayas, even as
modern contraceptive use rose between 1993 and 2003, abortion rates stagnated or increased slightly.
In countries such as thePhilippines, where women and couples increasingly want small families,
contraceptive use maynot at first keep pace with this growing motivation to control fertility. That is, for a
transitional period of time, the proportion of couples who wish to space their births or end their
childbearing but who are not using modern contraceptives may increase—and as a result, more couples
mayexperience unintended pregnancies and seek abortions. Eventually, evidence from other
countriesshows, contraceptive use becomes more widespread and abortion rates decline (Singh et
al.2006).

Women have many reasons for choosing abortion (Singh et al. 2006). Here are the following:

Inability to afford the economic cost of raising a child

- most common reason as cited by 72% of Filipino women who have attempted to have an abortion.
Although the financial cost of raising a child and the desire to space births or limit family size areamong
the leading reasons cited by both poor women and better-off women who havesought to end a
pregnancy, these reasons are given by larger proportions of poor thanof wealthier women. But they do
not justify the taking of life of the unborn. Allowingabortion will not necessarily lessen poverty,
malnutrition, and child deaths in our country; abortion will only be the easier way out of honestly
confronting our problem.The number of hungry children will increase--not because there are more being
born, but because the exploitation is more intensive (Pro-Life Philippines 2005).

More than half of abortion seekers gave a reason relating directlyto unmet need for family planning:
Some 54% felt they had enough children, while 57% believed thatthe pregnancy occurred too soon after
their last one.

Thirty-one percent of women sought an abortion because they feared that a pregnancy would damage
their health and another 32% because they felt that their husband, partner or relatives did not want the
pregnancy.

One in four women tried to end a pregnancy because of problems with their partner that is, their
partner had abandoned them, was not their husband or was not deemed to be a good father.

Some 13% of women who ever attempted an abortion reported having done sobecause their pregnancy
resulted from forced sex or rape. When a child is unwanted,abortion is certainly an extremist response -
taking the life of the unwanted child (ProLife Philippines 2005).

Financial cost of raising a child and the desire to space births or limit family size areamong the leading
reasons cited by both poor women and better-off women who havesought to end a pregnancy, these
reasons are given by larger proportions of poor thanof wealthier women. But they do not justify the
taking of life of the unborn. Allowingabortion will not necessarily lessen poverty, malnutrition, and child
deaths in our country; abortion will only be the easier way out of honestly confronting our problem.The
number of hungry children will increase--not because there are more being born, but because the
exploitation is more intensive (Pro-Life Philippines 2005).

More than half of abortion seekers gave a reason relating directly to unmet need for family planning:
Some 54% felt they had enough children, while 57% believed thatthe pregnancy occurred too soon after
their last one.

Thirty-one percent of women sought an abortion because they feared that a pregnancy would damage
their health and another 32% because they felt that their husband, partner or relatives did not want the
pregnancy

One in four women tried to end a pregnancy because of problems with their partner that is, their
partner had abandoned them, was not their husband or was not deemed to be a good father.
Some 13% of women who ever attempted an abortion reported having done so because their pregnancy
resulted from forced sex or rape. When a child is unwanted,abortion is certainly an extremist response -
taking the life of the unwanted child (Pro-Life Philippines 2005).

One characteristic that is closely associated with a woman’s reasons for attempting toend an unintended
pregnancy is her age. Larger proportions of younger than of older women try to terminate their
pregnancies because they want to avoid conflicts with school, have problems with their partner or the
man who made them pregnant, or consider themselves too young to have a baby.

Sometimes, society’s moralism itself pushes women to have induced abortions. Even the Penal code
organizers this in the way it states the penalties for abortion: “Anywoman who shall commit this offense
(abortion) to conceal her dishonor, shall suffer the penalty of prison correctional in its minimum and
medium periods.” Societystigmatizes single mothers, sometimes even punishing them severely. Pregnant
unmarried students face not just redicule from classmates but expulsion by school authorities (Tan
2008).