"blame for creating a “dire human rights crisis” in the country by withholding access to family planning services and imposing a criminal ban on abortion ... These laws and policies have pushed more than half a million women to turn to clandestine and unsafe ways of terminating their pregnancies—often at the cost of their lives..."
The article is based on a study made by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Given that, there is no surprise with its recommendations. The report says that CPR is pro-choice, why not call them pro-abortion?
Rightly so, as the recommendations are:
“Our Congress should address this issue by passing a law that expressly allows safe and legal abortion. The Philippine judiciary should rule on the constitutionality of safe abortion when raised in court. Women’s rights advocates and reproductive rights advocates should also demand access to safe and legal abortion to address this public health issue.
Obviously, under the present Philippine Constitution, all abortions are illegal. Since making abortion legal in the Philippines will take a constitutional amendment to that effect, I am not concerned as much to lose sleep over this. What is troubling of course is that this study's findings release seem to go according to the plan to push for a reproductive rights law once again. I see it similarly to getting a better discount sale: ask for an insanely huge discount to get a much bigger than advertised discount. If we cannot get the government to legalize abortion, maybe we can settle for a reproductive rights law. Anyway, the less pregnancies, the less temptations to abort, right?
CRR is also very brazen. Imagine telling a sovereign government to push for laws that go against its own Constitution? Then again, CRR is US-based. Apparently in the US now, you can actually tell government not to follow its own rules (like, there is no illegal immigration because they can't check immigration status, everyone is deemed legal).
While any death (be it the mother or the child) is bad enough (one death too many), it seems CRR is okay with preventing 1,000 deaths from 90,000 women with post-abortive complications, than having 90,000 babies die for certain (actually much more if the goal is to prevent the 560,000 pregnant Philippine women a year from seeking abortions). Then again, this is still much less than the more than 1 million aborted babies annually in the US.
Can our lawmakers be strong enough to stand their ground?
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Food for thought.
According the US Centers for Disease Control:
Reasons for abortions
In 2000, cases of rape or incest accounted for 1% of abortions. Another study, in 1998, revealed that in 1987-1988 women reported the following reasons for choosing an abortion:
- 25.5% Want to postpone childbearing
- 21.3% Cannot afford a baby
- 14.1% Has relationship problem or partner does not want pregnancy
- 12.2% Too young; parent(s) or other(s) object to pregnancy
- 10.8% Having a child will disrupt education or job
- 7.9% Want no (more) children
- 3.3% Risk to fetal health
- 2.8% Risk to maternal health
- 2.1% Other
1 comment:
You are right, Peter.
Section 12, Article II of the Constitution states:
Section 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of 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. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.
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