Abortion and law

The current criminal law on abortion is an outdated colonial law that violates the rights to health and life of
Filipino women.It was a direct translation of the old Spanish Penal Code of 1870s that used to criminalize
abortion—in the time of the Spanish friars and conquistadores. Without knowing the full consequences of
such a harsh and restrictive law, our Congress enacted the criminal provision in our Revised Penal Code of
1930.At the time the law was adopted, Filipino women did not even have the right to vote, there was no
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and no international human rights treaties such as the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1976), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1976), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW, 1981), Convention Against Torture (CAT, 1987), and Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC, 1990). These came much later.Denying women access to safe and legal abortion is a means to
control women’s bodies, propagating subordination of women where women’s decisions including personal
decisions related to pregnancy and childbirth are totally disregarded. Permitting restrictions on women’s right
to decide their own bodies perpetuate discrimination against women and inequality of women in law in clear
violation of women’s right to equal protection of the law and women’s right to privacy.Allowing penal
provisions imposed on women who induce abortion and those who assist them to prevail in Philippine law
based on religious standards violates the constitutional guarantee of non-establishment of religion.Denying
access to safe and legal abortion is a public health issue.The illegality of abortion with no clear exceptions
drives women to self-induce abortion unnecessarily endangering their health and lives. If we want health care
service providers to provide humane, non-judgmental, compassionate post-abortion care and if we want to
reduce maternal mortality and morbidity due to unsafe abortion, then we should rethink the archaic colonial
law that restricts access to safe and legal abortion.

“In Philippines, our criminal law of abortion is still base on old Spanish local Code of
1870’s. While other Catholic country already enacted provision and revised law with this
colonial law, Philippines left behind. It is time for our Government to welcome discussion
rule exceptional cases of rape, incest that may danger the health and life of a woman.
Giving access to safe of legal abortion may help poor women have a better living.
Government must pursue to educate them about this matter and uphold reproductive rights
and women’s equality who can decides to have abortion in safe of legal manner. Philippine
law should be governed by secular standards human rights and public health”
Only in PH: Teen pregnancy “Philippines is a country that
rising rises the percentage of teen
03:54 AM July 08, 2016
pregnancy over the years pass
by. Since young adults
THE UN Population Fund (UNFPA) says
nowadays are more exposed
the Philippines is the only country in the
in PMS we should consider
Asia-Pacific region where the rate of teen
pregnancies rose over the last two
teen pregnancy as one of the
decades. consequences that may occur.
And as long as teenagers are
A study says teen pregnancies, high
blinded about this facts and
youth unemployment and the slow
don’t mind the result as it
decline of the overall fertility rate in the
may come, we must accept
Philippines may deprive the country of
the faster economic growth. that teen pregnancy will
continue to rise for the few
UNFPA country representative Klaus
years.”
Beck said on Tuesday that Filipino girls
aged 15 to 19 make up 10 percent of the
population of 100 million, and one out of
10 of them have already given birth.
“Adolescence is a normal stage that young individuals undergoes. At some
point it triggers our mentality and curiosity about sex. Mostly young adults
enjoys to discover new things like PMS. As our technology continue
improving, the knowledge of young pinoys about PMS will continue to strive
and it’s very alarming that our youth are still embracing PMS without the
knowledge of safe and proper protection.”
Premarital sex is common in many Western countries because of their more liberated views on life. Many would think
that a predominantly Roman Catholic and conservative country like the Philippines would be less worried about
premarital sex and its consequences. Majority of Filipinos regarded sex as an act shared only between husband and
wife. Filipino women were expected to give their virginity to their husbands on their wedding night. A local study
suggests that Filipinos’ attitudes towards sex have dramatically changed over time.One in every three youth between
the ages of 15 to 24 years old has engaged in premarital sex according to the 2013 study conducted by the University of
the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and the Demographic Research and Development Foundation, Inc. (DRDF).
The 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS 4) indicates that this statistic reflects a 14 percent leap from 20
years ago, when the second YAFS was made. UPPI’s Maria Paz Marquez states that 6.2 million youth have engaged in
pre-marital sex.
“As Christian country, we Filipinos have this
conservative culture about PMS. Those who
are born from 60’s and earlier treats PMS
as unforgivable sin and preserving virginity
is the right thing to do until marriage.
Contrary to this generations who accept the
liberalization and embracing PMS. Because
of the influence of Westeners, dating
nowadays for young Filipino are less
structured and have more freedom to pratice
PMS.”
The Philippines, being one of the largest Christian countries in the world, is known to have a conservative culture. In
respect to that, it is understandable why the subject of pre-marital sex could often come off as a big issue for Filipinos,
especially for the die-hard conservatives such as the people born from the 60s and earlier.According to Young Adult
Fertility and Sexuality Study 4, 1 out of 3 Filipinos from ages 15-24 had already experienced pre-marital sex. Also,
studies show that, over the years, because of the influences of the Westerners, the importance of virginity had
somehow transitioned from being sacred to being less prevalent.In general, 71% of Filipinos think that sex outside
marriage is still 'morally unacceptable' based on the study conducted by Pew Research Center while 20% of the
respondents said otherwise. As it was narrowed down to just the millennials, the prevalence of pre-marital sex went to
at least 40% and more than half of that were unprotected during their first time.
 “Young Adult Fertility Study (YAFS 4) surveyed that age between 15-24
young Filipinos are actively engaging in PMS outside marriage that can
results to fertility and reproductive behavior of young adults. With this
practice, as years passes by PMS outside marriage will continue to increase
likewise as the problem of early pregnancy out of wedlock.”

Survey shows 1 in 3 Filipino Youth had Sex

outside Marriage

Survey shows 1 in 3 Filipino youth had sex outside marriage

August 31st, 2014

Thirty two percent of young Filipinos aged 15-24 had engaged in sex before marriage, up from 23 percent
reported a decade ago. This finding came from the 2013 Young Adult Fertility Study (YAFS 4).

The new survey offers a comprehensive look at the sexuality, fertility and reproductive health behaviors of
contemporary young adults in the Philippines. This is the fourth in a series of nationwide surveys on the topic
conducted by the Demographic Research and Development Foundation and the University of the Philippines
Population Institute.

“While the increasing pattern of premarital sexual activity is expected, what we found notable in this new data is
the narrowing gap in the level of premarital sex prevalence between young men and women,” said Prof. Maria
Paz Marquez, one of the authors in the study.
 “Young Filipino males having higher rates than young Filipino
females who are engage in PMS don’t use any form of protection.
Being exposed to pornographic materials such as movies and videos
helps the youth to be more open to this behavior and practicing it
without knowing what may happen next. Having not educated
about PMS especially the use of protection may cause the high
percentage of early mothering and childbearing.”

A third of Pinoy youth had premarital sex

By Cai Ordinario -

OVER a third of Filipinos aged 15 to 24 have engaged in premarital sex (PMS), and a majority of them do not use
any form of protection, according to data collated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Data showed that 35.5 percent of young male Filipinos and 28.7 percent of young females have engaged in PMS.
 “Young Pinoys nowadays are more open minded with the
issue in engaging in Premarital Sex thinking that doing this is
just a normal thing between men and women. This practice are
done by those partners who are not prepared for its
consequences. This young pinoys who tell that Premarital Sex
is something they did not plan yet they went along with it,
must learn the education of safe sex for them to know how to
deal with this kind of transition period from childhood to
adulthood."

More young Pinoys engaging in premarital sex

By Sheila Crisostomo

A growing number of young Filipinos are engaging in premarital sex (PMS), with most girls having their "sexual
debut" in their boyfriends; homes, a report of the United Nations Population Fund and the Commission on
Population shows.The report, entitled "State of the Population Report, 2nd Issue," reveals that the "popular
venue for sexual debut" of young Filipino females (32 percent) in urban areas are their partners’ homes,
and for males (30 percent), hotels or motels.

And for those in the rural areas, the popular venues are beaches, parks or farms.

"Data suggest that boys are more adventurous than girls as the former identified the classroom as one of the
venues for their first (sexual) experience. The workplace can also be the location of these experiences, slightly
more so for girls than for boys," the report says.

The report was based on the Young Adult Fertility Survey-3 where about 20,000 youths aged 15 to 24 were
interviewed.The survey shows an increase in PMS prevalence from 18 percent in 1994 to 23 percent in 2002 ; or
two out of 10 young Filipino adults.