Abortion in

the
Philippines:
Reasons and
Responsibiliti
es

Aileen Grace Delima

“The State

recognizes the sanctity of family life

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..”

-Article II, Section 12 of Philippine

Constitution-
 Legal Basis of Abortion
 Revised Penal
Code of the
Philippines
(1930)
 Articles
256,
258, 259
 House Bill 6343
 United Nations
Unintended
pregnancy is the
root cause of
abortion.
Prevalence of Abortion

Figure 1. Nearly half of pregnancies

each year end in an induced abortion
or an unplanned birth.
Figure 3.
Between
1994 and
2000,
abortion
rates did
not change
much
nationally,
but they
increased in
Metro
Manila and
Visayas.
The majority of women
having abortions are:

Nine in 10 have ever been married or

in a consensual union.
The majority of women
having abortions are:

More than half have at least three children.

The majority of women
having abortions are:

Roughly two-thirds are poor.

The majority of women
having abortions are:

Nearly 90% are Catholic.

The majority of women
having abortions are:

Seven in 10 have at least some high

school education.
Reasons
 Economic cost
 Family
planning
 Health

 Rape incest

 Age

 Society’s
moralism
Fig.3. Both poor and nonpoor women seeking abortion
are concerned with the high cost of raising children.
Responsibilities

 All
stakeholders:
 this
means
taking the
necessary
steps to
address this
 Addressing the Problem
 Young people, as well as
adults, need:
 complete and accurate
information
 on reproductive health and
contraception,
 the risks of unsafe abortion,

 health and societal benefits of

family planning
 Addressing the Problem

 Policymakers must:
 clarify
the legal and medical
grounds
 on which abortion may be allowed
 Addressing the Problem
 Increased
use of effective
contraceptives
 help achieve desired family
size
 require knowledge, access and
government funding
 Addressing the Problem
 Increasedresources should
be directed
 at improving the quality of
postabortion care
 by expanding services such as:

 PMAC (Prevention and

Management of Abortion and
its Complications) program
Addressing the Problem
 Toreceive the care
that women need:
 medical
professionals should
be trained
 carry out the full
range of
reproductive health
services
 In Davao City
 absence of comprehensive local
health ordinance
 increase unwanted pregnancies
and alcoholism
 abortion and early marriages
among youth
 aborted fetuses dumped in trash
bins
 Plans…
 Provisions to provide women
with pre- and post-natal care
 Provide reproductive health and
rights education
 Reproductive Health Care Act:
 establishment of a Reproductive
Health Clinic
 reproductive health education
program for women and men
-end-