Topic/Stand: Abortion should be legalized in the Philippines

Position Paper
Draft

Should the government tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body?
Will you agree to let them?

A pregnant woman is an actual individual who’s entitled to her rights. As a human being,
that woman has all the rights to do what she’d like to do with her own body. We all have the
right to do with our own body. Not even our society could dictate to us how we should conduct
ourselves or how we should exploit our bodily energy. That pregnant woman has all the rights to
undergo abortion if she wants to simply because she has the right to her own body. What if that
pregnant woman were raped? What if she’s suffering from serious physical condition that
requires her to undergo abortion? Or what if she knew she wouldn’t be able to financially,
intellectually and physically raise her child? By what right can a society or any person say that
woman to sacrifice herself for the sake of some oppressive societal control?
Abortion is the removal or evacuation of an embryo or fetus from a pregnant woman. A
miscarriage, also known as a "spontaneous abortion," is a spontaneous abortion that happens in
about 30 percent to 40 percent of pregnancies. An induced abortion, or less commonly "induced
miscarriage," is when deliberate efforts are taken to end a pregnancy. The term "abortion" in its
original form refers to an induced abortion. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures
when done properly, yet unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal death, particularly in
developing countries, whereas making safe abortion legal and accessible reduces maternal
deaths.
Every day, nearly seven girls aged 14 and under give birth in the Philippines according to
the Population Commission (Jaymalin). Because the majority of adolescent pregnancies are
Unintentional, the mother and baby frequently do not receive the necessary prenatal care.
Pregnant women under the age of 15 are at risk of physical and mental health problems such as
anemia. Postpartum depression and gestational hypertension. The baby is also at risk of
becoming premature and low-birth-weight babies can suffer from health issues ("Adolescent
Pregnancy"). Not only teenagers, but many women in general, face a variety of challenges.
Pregnancy-related issues drive them to seek an abortion. Regardless of the fact that it is abortion,
which is illegal and punishable by law, is common in the Philippines. Because of the restriction,
Filipino women use risky methods that could cost them their lives Furthermore, because of the
stigma on the basis of criminalized abortion, women who undergo it do not receive post-abortion
care and may even be harmed. Worse, they may be mistreated by healthcare providers. With all
of this in mind, there is a requirement in the Philippines for safe and legal abortion.
The Revised Penal Code of the Philippines from 1930 is a nearly century-old law that
defines Abortion is classified as a crime, and women and those who assist them face prison
sentences of up to six years imprisonment. Abortion performed to save a woman's life or health
may be interpreted differently as permissible under the general provisions of "justification" and
"necessity". Nonetheless, many healthcare providers refuse to perform abortions under any
circumstances because of the aforementioned cases have not yet been heard in a court of law.
Many people are concerned about criminal liability and are opposed to patients seeking
abortions, including those whose lives are in danger. According to Article 258, if the woman or
her parents "commit this offense," they will face a longer prison sentence to keep her dishonor
hidden." This is also the most common reason among Filipinos, but reports from Filipino women
who have had abortions show that this is not the case. The National Survey of 2004 of Women
reveals that Filipino women choose to have abortions for a variety of reasons: inability to afford
the economic cost of raising a child (72%), occurred too soon after their previous one (57%), a
sufficient number of children (54%), a partner or relatives did not want the pregnancy (32%), the
health consequences (31%), and the pregnancy itself (31%) arose as a result of forced sex (13%).
Article 2, Section 12 of the Philippine Constitution requires the government to "equally protect
the life of the mother and the life of the child." The provision failed to prioritize the woman's life
and fundamental rights that are also enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Social Justice articles of
the Constitution as well as Human Rights. In addition, the United Nations Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination against women has repeatedly urged the Philippine
government to ensure access to modern contraception and legalize abortion in limited
circumstances (U.N. Committee).
If we follow the logic and reasoning of these people who are against abortion, then both
woman and her fetus stand on an equal footing when it comes to rights. What if the woman could
not possibly give birth without sacrificing her life? Do the rights of the “potential” precede the
rights of the living?

The sexual revolution has ushered in a time when ordinary teenager is sexually active.
There is a lot of pressure on people to have sexual encounters of various types. Teenagers in the
Philippines have a greater success rate. Despite having more access to sex through the Internet,
periodicals, TV shows, movies, and other forms of media than decades ago, without a matching
growth in knowledge on how to deal with the input as a result, children are mostly left to their
own devices. When it comes to sex, other youngsters may be relied on for their ideas and value
formation. As a result, sexual disinformation is widely disseminated among the group. Parents at
home and instructors at school both feel inadequate or nervous about discussing sex with
children. The problem worsens because of his/her own group of friends so what we called
barkada wields more power than parents, applies pressure, and expects the teenager to adhere to
the group.
According to the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and the
Demographic Research and Development Foundation's Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality
Study, between the ages of 15 to 25, 26 percent of our Filipino adolescents countrywide are
fertile. acknowledged to have had a sexual experience before marriage. Worse, 38% of our youth
are currently living with their parents.
According to the 1998 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), 3.6 million of
our youngsters (or 5.2 percent of the population) were pregnant. The pregnancy was unplanned
in 92 percent of these teenagers, and the majority (78 percent) did not utilize contraception the
first time they had sexual intercourse. Many young people are unaware they might become
pregnant after just one encounter due to a lack of sex education in the Philippines.
 Teenage moms are less likely to seek regular prenatal care, which is important for
monitoring the fetus's growth, keeping the mother's weight in balance, and providing dietary and
self-care advice to ensure a successful pregnancy. According to the American Medical
Association, kids born to women who do not receive regular prenatal care are four times more
likely to die before their first birthday. Abortions are more common in unplanned pregnancies.
Abortion is used to stop roughly four out of every ten teenage pregnancies in the United States
(excluding those that result in miscarriages). In 1996, there were around 274,000 adolescent
abortions. Although abortion is banned in the Philippines, it may surprise you to learn that we
have a higher abortion rate (25/1,000 women) than the United States (23/1,000 women).
Undoubtedly, there are many more abortions in our nation that are not even documented.
Untrained pilots use questionable sterility methods to perform backdoor abortions, raising the
risk of tetanus poisoning and other consequences.
This is the effect of lack of sex education in the Philippines it makes teens or
adults to had unsafe Sexual intercourse. Having sex with another man after another may lead to
Sexual transmitted Diseases (STDs) one of these diseases is the human papillomavirus (HPV) is
a wart-forming, sexually transmitted virus that has been linked to cervical cancer. After breast
cancer, this is the most frequent cancer in women. Women who participate in intercourse before
the age of 18, have a pregnancy before the age of 18, or have had at least five sexual partners, or
have had a partner with at least five sexual partners are at a higher risk of contracting STI. If you
begin having sex at a young age, you are more likely to have numerous sexual partners before
settling down, increasing your risk of contracting the virus and developing cervical cancer. Men
can get genital warts as a result of this infection. This virus may cause genital warts in males, and
they can surely pass it on to their female partners, increasing their risk of cervical cancer.
Because the condom cannot cover the testes, where warts can form and spread, using it does not
provide protection against contracting this virus.

Despite having a high abortion rate, Abortion is still illegal in the Philippines due to the
influence of religion. According to the teachings of the church and Article 2 of the human rights,
it states that no one has the right to take someone’s life and a fetus is an underdeveloped human
it means fetuses or babies are in the scope of the right to life. Aborting a fetus or a baby makes
you or other people think that you are murdering an innocent child. Because it is not the baby’s
fault why he/she was formed in the mother’s womb it’s the responsibility of both parents to take
the risk of doing sexual intercourse without the use of contraception. That is why abortion in the
Philippines is only valid if the mother is at risk when she continues to bear the child in her
womb.
But adopting can lower the abortion rate around the world so if someone is thinking to
abort their child even though the baby is healthy in the womb, think off that many couples want a
child but they are unable to make one due to infertility. So, adopting can help in minimizing the
use of abortion they are also LGBTQ+ couples that are wanting to have a child through adoption.
But women still choose to abort their child even though they can choose to adopt their child to
other people. According to Deaconess Pregnancy & Adoption Organization, some women
choose to abort their baby because it is less expensive rather than placing a child for adoption
and that abortion is the quicker and less emotionally involved solution for an unplanned
pregnancy.
 According to the study of Khazan (2019) Some American women see giving up their
children to other people as more painful than terminating their pregnancy. But aborting gives a
long-term Emotional discomfort due to thinking that you killed or terminate an innocent child’s
life.

In conclusion Abortion is not something to be ignored or it is mattering that people

should be properly knowledgeable for abortion is cannot only be considered as something like a
medical procedure, for life is also included in this kind of matter. In our society many
circumstances can give a person idea to go under the procedure of abortion for example only,
women who are raped will of course want to go through the process of abortion, then other
reasons can also be considered as why people might want to go through Abortion. Everyday
nearly 7 of girls which ranged 14 and under gave birth in our country and with that girls who
became a parent in such a young age is at risk with their mental and physical health, Not only
young parent but women in general who chose to go through the procedure of abortion receive
discrimination from others, not only they do not receive the care they needed after going through
in that kind of procedure but they are also cases where women might be harmed because of the
decision they made. Abortion might also be considered as a result of the curiosity that is made by
the children these days, given that many children have their own kind of gadgets so information
that children wanted to find can be easily accessed through the use of internet, not only that but
the people of whom children hang out with also called as “barkada” can also be a factor. Teenage
moms are less likely to seek check-ups while growing the baby that’s why a study show that
babies who is born with a parent who do not receive regular parental health is most likely to die
before reaching their first birthday. Lack of sex education to teens is also a factor since not many
teens is knowledgeable about the risk of having sex in such an early age that it may also lead in
having too many sexual partners that can lead in (STD). Even with such high numbers of
abortion case, Abortion is still considered as illegal in our country, mostly because of the
influence given by the religion/s. In an article about human rights that no one has the right to
take someone’s life. Fetus are also of course considered as a human in such way going through a
abortion means you are taking a child’s life, babies or children who is gone because of abortion
did not deserve to die in that way since they are not the ones who is at fault. That is why abortion
is only considered when the mother’s life is at risk continuing to bear the child. Adoption is one
of was to lower the cases of abortion, in that way people who cannot continue to be a parent to a
child can still save the child’s life by giving them new parents who are willing to take care of it.
But in some matter people still consider going through abortion for reasons such as that abortion
is much cheaper than placing a child for adoption in some matter the mother cannot bear the
sight of them giving up their child to other people describe that is more painful rather than just
losing them through abortion but abortion will still give them the haunt that they take away an
innocent child’s life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion
https://www.pinoyexchange.com/discussion/479259/should-abortion-be-legalized-in-the-
philippines
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights-act/article-2-right-life
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/05/why-more-women-dont-choose-
adoption/589759/
https://deaconessadoption.org/facts-adoption-vs-abortion/

https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/health-and-family/2008/07/01/70436/lowdown-teen-

pregnancieshttps://www.studymode.com/essays/Teenage-Pregnancy-53369639.html

https://www.studymode.com/essays/Related-Literature-Of-Teenage-Pregnancy-Philippines-

1040118.html