Professional Documents
Culture Documents
BSN 1 - E
Unwanted pregnancies are common among Filipino women, and many of those
seeking abortions resort to risky procedures because abortion is so stigmatized here.
Many often powerful segments of Filipino society pose obstacles or outright opposition
to women's access to reproductive health services. Although it is legal to use
contraception in the Philippines, the government had only moderately supported access
to modern contraceptives until mounting pressure to lower maternal mortality and
morbidity and fight poverty in the nation emerged in recent years. Women are at higher
risk of getting unsafe abortions with no post-abortion care, which contributes to the high
mortality rate as complications are fatal. In 2008, an estimated 1000 maternal deaths
occurred due to abortion complications. Due to the inaccessibility of getting an abortion,
the procedures that Filipino women, particularly those in poverty, undergo as a result of
the difficulty in obtaining an abortion become riskier as they use unqualified providers
and run the risk of infection from procedures that result in mild to fatal complications.
Additionally, cost becomes another factor. Due to the complications, Filipino women
who cannot afford post-abortive care are left to self-manage their health problems or
actually not receive it entirely. Stigma is an important factor when it comes to Filipino
women receiving abortions and reproductive care as shame, intimidation, treatment
delay, biases, and threats to the police are all forms of stigma that make more Filipino
women more reluctant to consider an abortion. Which gave them no longer the freedom
to decide for themselves what to do during pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. And
to make matters worse, despite numerous health issues, it forces women to carry out
unintended pregnancies. According to a national 2004 survey of women of reproductive
age, a higher percentage of poor women have abortions because of inability to secure
money to pay and the lack of any access to productive care. Therefore, criminalizing
Tan, Fatima Alisah B.
BSN 1 - E
abortion does not decrease abortions in the Philippines but it contributes to increased
maternal death, and only oppresses and endangers women.