TUESDAY / NoVEMBER 26, 2019
WWW.INQUIRER.NET
Popcoms Allout minors
accass to contracePtives
By lvlaGthew R€Ysio.Cruz
@MatthewlNQ
Congress should restore a Provi-
sion of the reproductive health
law that allowed certain minors
to access contraceptives even
without parental consent the
commission on Population and
Development (Popcom) execu-
tive director, Undersecretary
Juan Perez III, said on Monday.
The landmark law odginal-
ly. allowed minors who already
had children to access family
planning sewices without con-
sent from their Parents-one
of just eight provisions struck
down by the Supreme Court in
2014 when it ruled the overall
law was constitutional.
Perez said at a press confer-
ence that removal of the Provi-
sion had complicated efforts to
curb teenage Pregnancy rates.
Popcom has urged the Sen-
ate and House of Representa-
tives to pass a law recognizing
the gravity of the situation and
detailing a comprehensive Plan
ofactionto address it.
Teenage pregnancy
Perez said on Monday that
such an act could reinstate the
scrapped clause.
Asked whether congress
could pass a policy that was
tossed out by the Supreme
Court, Perez said it was only
struck down because in the
court's view, there had been no
\\ /cA,Cre
compelling reason then to aI'
low minors to secure birth con-
trol without Parental consent'
"Now that we're seeing an
emergenry, there is now a com-
pelling reason," he told the' In-
qlter.tso in a way, it wil update
the Responsible Parenthood and
Reproductive Healtl [Act], recog-
nizing the situation :rmong teen
pregnancy as an emergency."
some reproductive health
advocates have Protested that
the discarded provision does
not go far enough, saying all
adolescents should be allowed
to access family planning ser-
vices without parental consent
regardless of whether or not
they had been pregnant before.
ButPerez said even the limit-
-A{rtl
ed approach would bolster ef-
forts to contain teenage Preg-
nancy, as one in six of those cases
each year are repeat pregnancies.
No access
"In the Past ttrose minors
would have been able to access
services, but since that
lsupr€me Court] decision, they
have beenbarred." he said. "And
they get pregnant again, Partly
. because they have no access to
family planning services."
Meanwhile, Perez advised
Senate President Vicento Sotto
I1I to listen to the exPerts after
the senator Proposed in a budget
hearing last week t}Iat the Pro-
curement of progestin subder-
mal implants be scrapped. INQ