Abortion: What’s Your Stand Philippines?

Life is the greatest gift from above, which enables us to grow in the fullness of His love.
Threats to life must therefore be resisted. The Philippine Constitution imposes upon the State the
duty to “equally recognize 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.” (Article II, Section 12). Equal to the mother's life, the unborn
child's life is entitled to defense starting with conception. This protection must be effective. Should
be from any type of harm, injury, or death, regardless of its severity not only the present but also
any potential hazard. Also, "conception" in this context means due to the fact that these phrases
were used synonymously during the discussions of the Constitutional Commission in 1986. A child
is recognized as having the right to not only be born, but to be born healthily under our legal system
since he or she is endowed from the moment of conception with the dignity and worth of a human
being (Child and Youth Welfare Code, Article 3). This inextricably involves the unborn child's
right to develop to its full potential and avoid being taken out of its mother's womb too soon.
Undergoing abortion does not only affect your spirituality however it has an impact on
your body. Numerous tragedies fall under the wide spectrum of abortion. The majority of patients
with post-abortion suffered from complications such as bleeding, pain, infection, uterine
perforation, injuries to adjacent organs, cervical laceration, etc. (Sajadi-Ernazarova & Martinez,
2022).
It is a distressing process that has a number of effects on the mother’s mental state, which
can ultimately lead to psychological problems like depression (Volgsten et al., 2018). It
emphasizes on negative-emotional psychological consequences of the abortion. Abortion may
cause psychological problems such as smoking, drug abuse, eating disorder, depression, attempted
suicide, guilt, regret, nightmare and decreased self-esteem (Thorp et al., 2003). According to
Horvath and Schreiber (2017), depression rate is almost the same between women in obtaining an
abortion and those who denied an abortion and the rates of anxiety symptoms are higher in women
whom abortion care has been denied.
From the complications experienced by patients under post-abortion, safety must be
considered and must be highlighted. Abortion stigma, lack of access to safe, inexpensive, timely,
and respectful abortion treatment, and other factors all pose dangers to women's physical and
emotional health over the course of their lives. Unsafe abortion causes 4.7–13.2% of maternal
fatalities annually (Chou et al., 2014). According to estimates, 30 women in developed nations
pass away for every 100,000 unsafe abortions. For every 100,000 unsafe abortions, there are 220
deaths in impoverished countries (Ganatra, 2017). According to estimates from 2012, 7 million
women per year in underdeveloped nations alone were treated in hospitals for complications from
unsafe abortions (Singh & Maddow-Zimet, 2012). Each year, nearly 70 million women have
unwanted pregnancies (Global Health Council, 2002). Numerous human rights documents defend
the right to life. One of which is the women’s right to life. Her right to life is at danger when a
woman is forced to have an unsafe, life-threatening abortion. Based from Article 6.1 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Committee
called upon states to inform the committee of “any measures taken by the State to help women
prevent unwanted pregnancies, and to ensure that they do not have to undergo life-threatening
clandestine abortions.” Sexually exploited women and rape and incest survivors must be allowed
to end undesired pregnancies without fear for their lives. Every 75 minutes, a woman or girl in the
Philippines is raped. Lawyer Clara Rita Padilla, a spokeswoman for the Philippine Safe Abortion
Advocacy Network (PINSAN) said that rape survivors make up around 1 in 8 of the women who
induce abortions. Some women and girls who fell pregnant after being raped were compelled to
have hazardous, covert abortions; meanwhile, some have attempted suicide. There are many
Filipinos who will support their female family member's decision to have such a therapeutic
abortion when she falls pregnant as a result of rape. Examples include one's daughter, sister, wife,
or mother. However, Philippine law clearly prohibits abortions, even for rape survivors. Without
access to safe abortion, a 10-year-old girl who got pregnant after being sexually assaulted by her
own father would be obliged to carry the pregnancy to term, which would violate her rights and
put her at significant risk of death because birthing at such a young age is extremely risky. It is
cruel, an egregious injustice, and blatantly discriminatory to deny safe and legal abortion to rape
and incest survivors.
A study conducted by PINSAN in 2020 found 1.26 million abortions were carried out in
the country. Another study by the University of the Philippines estimated that 1.1 million abortions
occur every year in the country. By this, the Catholic Church in the Philippines is stirred up with
the increasing case. The Catechism of the Church reminds the world that human life must be
respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. In its fundamental essence,
abortion is a horrendous crime and very grave sin, Pope Francis reiterated the age-old Catholic
stand in 2016.
With all the factors, issues about the controversy of abortion, Philippines, what’s your
stand?

References:
Moradinazar, M., Najafi, F., Nazar, Z., Hamzeh, B., Pasdar, Y., & Shakiba, E., (2020). Lifetime
Prevalence of Abortion and Risk Factors in Women: Evidence from a Cohort Study.
National Library of Medicine, http://doi.org/ 10.1155/2020/4871494
Sajadi-Ernazarova, K., & Martinez, C., (2022). Abortion Complications. National Library of
Medicine.
Zareba, K., La Rosa, V., Ciebiera, M., Makara-Studzinska, M., Commodari, E., & Gierus, J. (2020).
Psychological Effects of Abortion: An Updated Narrative Review. Eastern Journal of
Medicine, 25(3): 466-483. http://doi.org/10.5505/ejm.2020.82246
Sing, S., & Maddow-Zimet, I. (2012). Facility-based treatment for medical complications resulting
from unsafe pregnancy termination in the developing world, 2012: a review pf evidence
from 26 countries. BJOG 2015; published online Aug. 19. http://doi.org/10.1111/1471-
0528.13552
Center for Reproductive Rights. Safe and Legal Abortion is a Woman’s Human Right.
https://www.reproductiverights.org/sites/default/files/documents/pub_bp_safeandlegal.pd
f
Padilla, C. (2020, September 28). [OPINION] Why we need to decriminalize abortion. Rappler.
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/opinion-why-we-need-decriminalize-
abortion