In the Philippines, the fate of women and girls is in the hands of lawmakers and Catholic Bishops who decide about the morality of the decision over their bodies. In fact, in the Revised Penal Code, it states that a woman who undergoes an abortion or any person assisting the action will be imprisoned.

Activists have been struggling with this issue for years. Even passing the Reproductive Health Law (which is frequently broadcasted as ‘abortion law’ by the anti-choice in the country) took fifteen years and another battle in removing the temporary restraining order filed by religious groups in the Supreme Court.

It came as no surprise when I learned that the Philippines is among the countries in Southeast Asia with an increasing number of teenage pregnancy cases and a high maternal mortality rate, with pregnancy related death due to unsafe abortions among the top three leading cause of maternal deaths in the country. The Philippines is still lost in the abyss of nowhere when it comes to improving maternal health. Despite the effort in addressing this concern, the issue still remains that women have no access to safe and legal abortion in the country.

In the past months since I volunteered to facilitate the needs of women through a safe abortion information hotline in the country, I have encountered various questions like ‘Where should I go for abortion?’, ‘Isn’t it illegal in our country?’, and ‘Do you think the doctors will know afterwards?’. Those questions which are hard to answer because the security of the woman in need of abortion is at stake. This is the reality in the Philippines, where around 60-70 women undergo unsafe abortions daily, but in the hotline, we only receive at least ten queries through email, text, and Facebook messages.

What the anti-choice doesn’t understand is that women who choose abortion have undergone a series of contemplations before deciding on getting an abortion. The common situation in the Philippines when a woman has an unintended pregnancy is that she either chooses between continuing the pregnancy or getting an abortion which is usually done in underground clinics or by using a coat-hanger.

If she decides to continue the pregnancy, she has to be emotionally, physically, and financially ready to bear a child. A woman who decides to continue the pregnancy when it is unplanned undergoes psychological disturbances and often worsens after giving birth. A woman who decides to continue the pregnancy when she thinks that it isn’t the right time for her body to bear and take care of the child will often suffer from serious physical illness or worse, death. A woman who decides to continue the pregnancy when she is from a low-income household residing in the urban poor area will have to prepare for the pre-natal check-ups, vaccines, and other needs of the infant after childbirth. But some women, after giving birth, will leave the baby, and send or sell the baby for adoption.

Now, think of a woman from the Philippines with a restrictive law on abortion deciding on getting an abortion. Her only options will be looking for traditional abortionists who sometimes trick her into drinking herbs and medicines, self-induced abortion using a coat-hanger inserting it inside her vagina or drinking too much alcohol or medicines, or undergoing surgical abortion in an unsafe environment conducted by unskilled persons.

The reality of these women, whose human rights are being violated every day is usually shunned and the authority over their bodies is still in the hands of lawmakers and Catholic bishops. The bottom line here is that women are at risk when their reproductive rights are violated and unfulfilled, and reproductive rights should include the access to safe and legal abortion.

But if it took fifteen years for the Reproductive Health to be enacted into law, when will the women’s lives be saved by the right to safe abortion?