Abortion - a Crime or a Cause to Fight For? by Danijela Ramone L. Cruz

To quote the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself.”1 Making the decision to bear and raise a child is not an easy task - it requires great amounts of effort, perseverance, and determination, if one wants to do it well. Mothers often struggle through sleepless nights and have to deal with the responsibilities that come with properly raising members of the next generation. This being said, while motherhood is an honorable thing, one problem arises within the Philippines - the rising number of women who have the unwanted responsibility of becoming mothers thrust on them. 

Data shows that over one in three (36%) of pregnancies in the Philippines are unwanted, being either mistimed or completely unplanned.2 A study done by researchers from the Guttmacher Institute attributed this to one significant issue - the increased lack of access to proper contraceptives. Contraceptives had previously been supplied to Filipinos for free by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), but this was discontinued in 2008 in the hopes of the Philippine government becoming more self-sufficient.3 Unfortunately, this led to an increased reliance on private suppliers which, in turn, has led to the higher cost of contraceptives and thus has reduced their accessibility. 

Those from other nations could simply conclude that one solution to this problem would be for Filipino women to turn to abortion instead. However, here arises another significant problem within the Philippines - the criminalization of abortion. Although it could save lives and benefit numerous women throughout the country, abortion is still punishable by the law, with its criminalization being implemented nationwide. This has led to women losing their rights to making personal decisions related to pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. To make matters worse, it also forces women to continue on with unwanted pregnancies despite the numerous health complications that may arise. 

In addition, there have been no moves from the national executive branch to legalize abortion4. Despite the supposed separation of church and state within the Philippines, lawmakers still refuse to legalize abortion on the basis of religious beliefs and values. The laws imposing on our women’s rights to control what happens to their bodies are deeply rooted in religious biases, revealing great systemic flaws in need of public attention. To our president’s credit, he has shown strong support for family planning and the distribution of contraceptives. However, he still faces opposition from religious lawmakers and institutions, particularly the Catholic Church. If family planning and the use of contraceptives alone already face hostility from our authorities, then how much more abortion? 

Being presented with this information, what else could we conclude to being the greatest challenge to women and girls today but the criminalization of abortion? Sadly, all women and girls are affected by this, but poor, rural, and younger women in particular are more vulnerable as many of them do not have the financial resources required to access safe abortion services. Many of them have turned to having illegal abortions performed on them, but even these are too expensive for some as they range from 2000-5000 PHP5. 

With all this in mind, a new question arises: what can we, as a people, do to remedy this problem? How can we address the glaring systemic flaws that are imposing on Filipino women’s rights? We don’t have to stand idly by and watch as our fellow women suffer from the life-changing difficulties surrounding unwanted motherhood. For one, we can begin by opening discussions on exceptions to abortion in cases involving rape, incest, and health problems that arise by keeping the fetus. Not only that, but we should continue advocating for the right of each woman to make decisions involving her reproductive system. By doing this, we can help not only the public, but even our government, understand the need for every Filipino woman’s easy and safe access to abortion.