This year a large team from ASAP, including our staff, steering committee and youth champions will be in Manila for the 7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights. As you may be aware, the country recently amid great controversy passed the Reproductive Health Law.

Here is a video summarizing the controversy in the country before the law was passed.

Formally called the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, this new legislative success guarantees universal access to methods on contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care.

This is also a foot in the door for safe abortion advocacy in the country. The country’s current abortion law, which you can read on our website criminalizes abortion under all circumstances. A liberal reading allows doctors to perform abortions when the woman’s life is in danger. Under all other circumstances, women or couples seeking abortions along with the providers can be imprisoned and fined.

This is a huge health risk for women in the country. A Guttmacher study estimated that 54% of the pregnancies in the Philippines were unintended, and that a total of 560,000 abortions took place in 2008. The number of abortions rose to 610,000 in 2012. Though this includes safe and unsafe abortions, almost all of these were clandestine because of the draconian law. And as emphasized several times through research and in advocacy, the risk of unsafe abortion and complications from the same are higher in countries where abortions are carried out secretly.

ASAP has worked with medical professionals and mid-level providers to try and increase the incidence of safe abortion by providing them with the updated WHO safe abortion guidance. Women on Web also provides medical abortion services online for Filipino women, and their service can be reached here: https://www.womenonweb.org/

ASAP also carried out a study which shows the knowledge and attitude of legal professionals in the country. A 43 years old, female, Roman Catholic legislator involved in reproductive health and agrarian reforms said:

“Abortion is still illegal, according to the Revised penal Code.There is a weak understanding of the separation of church and state. Public policy must be secular.”

This January, we hope to have an opportunity to discuss safe abortion in the Philippines and in other countries across the Asia-Pacific during the 7th APCRSHR. We are particularly proud of our youth champions from the Philippines who are working on a film that shows the impact of this draconian law on the young people of the Philippines. We hope that this film will be ready for viewing soon.