Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an

embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a

miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion" and occurs in approximately 30% to 40%
of pregnancies.
Abortion is a sensitive and contentious issue with religious, moral, cultural, and political dimensions. It is
also a public health concern. More than one-quarter of the world’s people live in countries where the
procedure is prohibited or permitted only to save the woman’s life. Yet, regardless of legal status, abortions
still occur, and nearly half of them are performed by unskilled practitioners or in less than sanitary
conditions, or both.
SAFE ABORTION The World Health Organization considers an abortion to be safe if it is done within
WHO guidelines by a trained provider who uses a WHOrecommended method that is appropriate to the
duration of the pregnancy. Globally, about 55% of abortions are safe. In Africa, only 24% are safe.1 WHO
recommends three methods for abortion: vacuum aspiration, medication, and dilation and evacuation.
Protocols for each method, described below, depend on the length of the pregnancy.2 Abortion is safest
when performed early in pregnancy, and most abortions are done during the first trimester (12 weeks) of a
pregnancy. In some countries, women within a few weeks of a missed menstrual period can undergo a
procedure called menstrual regulation or menstrual extraction, which uses vacuum aspiration or
medication to induce menstruation; it is often performed without testing for pregnancy.
Other names of Suction and Evacuation are Suction Aspiration or Vacuum
Aspiration. This is a method which is mainly used to remove uterine
contents from the uterus through the cervix. It may be used as a method of
an induced abortion procedure, after miscarriage or as a procedure to get a
sample for endometrial biopsy.
MEDICATION ABORTION ■ This method uses mifepristone and misoprostol pills, or misoprostol alone.
Use of this method has been increasing in recent years, which experts say is improving the safety of
abortions, especially those performed clandestinely or outside the formal health care system. ■ WHO
recommends this method for first and second trimester abortions. ■ When used correctly in the first
trimester, the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol has a success rate of 96-98%. Misoprostol alone
is not as effective, resulting in a complete abortion 75-90% of the time. WHO recommends misoprostol
alone only when mifepristone is unavailable. ■ In many countries mifepristone is expensive or not
available. Misoprostol, on the other hand, is widely available; it has many obstetric uses and is sold under
the brand name Cytotec to prevent stomach ulcers. ■ Using mifepristone followed by misoprostol, most
women will experience an abortion within 24 hours of taking the misoprostol, though bleeding and spotting
may occur for several weeks after.
DILATION AND EVACUATION (D&E) ■ D&E involves dilating the cervix and using a combination of
suction and instruments to remove the contents of the uterus. WHO recommends this method for second
trimester pregnancies.
UNSAFE ABORTION Abortions are considered to be unsafe when they are performed by people lacking
the necessary skills and information or in an environment that does not meet minimum medical standards,
or both.
WHO HAS TWO SUBCLASSIFICATIONS FOR UNSAFE ABORTIONS:¹
LESS SAFE Less safe abortions are performed by a trained provider who uses an unsafe or outdated
method (such as sharp curettage), or using a safe method (like misoprostol tablets) but without appropriate
information or support from a trained person.
LEAST SAFE Least safe abortions lack both of the criteria—providers are untrained and an unsafe method
is used; these methods often involve ingestion of caustic substances, use of traditional concoctions, or
insertion of foreign objects.
In the world’s developing regions, about two-thirds of unsafe procedures are less safe and one-third are
least safe. However, in Africa, the least safe methods are far more prevalent than the less safe ones. ■ More
than 29,000 women and girls die from complications of unsafe abortion every year in developing regions.
More than half of those deaths are in Africa.2 ■ Globally, 55% of abortions are safe, 31% are less safe, and
14% are least safe.3 ■ In developed regions, nearly 88% of abortions are safe and 12% are less safe
There are no international or multinational treaties that deal directly with
abortion but human rights law and International criminal law touch on
the issues.
The Nuremberg Military Tribunal decided the case of United States v
Greifelt & others [1948] on the basis that abortion was a crime within its
jurisdiction according to the law defining crimes against humanity and
thus within its definition of murder and extermination.
The Catholic Church remains highly influential in Latin America, and
opposes the legalisation of abortion. The American Convention on Human
Rights, which in 2013 had 23 Latin American parties, declares human life
as commencing with conception. In Latin America, abortion on request is
only legal in Cuba (1965), Uruguay (2012), Argentina (2021), and in parts
of Mexico. Abortions are completely banned in Honduras, El
Salvador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic and only allowed in
certain restricted circumstances in most other Latin American nations.
For over a century, abortion has been criminalized in the Philippines. The criminal provisions on abortion
do not contain any exceptions allowing abortion, including to save the life of the pregnant woman or to
protect her health.
Abortion was criminalized through the Penal Code of 1870 under Spanish colonial rule, and the criminal
provisions were incorporated into the Revised Penal Code passed in 1930 under U.S. occupation of the
Philippines. The criminalization of abortion has not prevented abortion, but instead has made the
procedure unsafe and potentially deadly for the over half a million women each year who try to terminate
their pregnancies.
Physicians and midwives who perform abortions in the Philippines with the consent of a pregnant woman
may face up to six years in prison under the Revised Penal Code. T
These criminal punishments are
supplemented by separate laws that prescribe
sanctions for a range of medical professionals and health workers such as doctors,
midwives, and pharmacists for performing
abortions or dispensing abortifacients such as
the Medical Act, the Midwifery Act, and the
Pharmaceutical Act. According to these laws,
these practitioners may have their license, to practice suspended or revoked if caught engaging in
abortion-related activities
Women
who undergo abortion for any reason may be
punished by imprisonment for two to
six years.
Because of the lack of access to safe abortion, Filipino women with lifethreatening pregnancies have no
choice but to risk their lives, either through unsafe abortion or through continuation of high-risk
pregnancies.
Poor women are
particularly vulnerable to unsafe abortion and
its complications, as they face barriers in
obtaining effective means of family planning
and lack access to reproductive health
services. Common physical complications
that arise from the use of such crude and
dangerous methods include hemorrhage,
sepsis, peritonitis, and trauma to the cervix,
vagina, uterus, and abdominal organs.
The criminal abortion ban has stigmatized
the procedure in the medical community,
so that women face tremendous barriers
and significant abuse when they seek
treatment for abortion complications.
Filipino women who seek treatment for complications from unsafe abortion have repeatedly reported that
the stigma around abortion means that healthcare workers are unwilling to provide care or only treat
women after “punishing” women who have undergone abortions by threatening to report them to the
police, harassing women verbally and physically, or delaying care.

Filipino women
who have undergone unsafe abortions for
health reasons report that healthcare workers
have not been sympathetic to their situation,
but instead continue to abuse and threaten
them.
The stigma surrounding abortion is perpetuated by the Government of the Philippines’ acquiescence to the
demands of the Catholic hierarchy, including the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
The strength of
the Catholic hierarchy’s influence in the
Philippines was evident in 1987, when
Catholic bishops and leaders succeeded
in making the 1987 Constitution the first
Philippines constitution ever to recognize
a government obligation to protect “the
life of the unborn from conception.” The
Government of the Philippines continues
to permit the CBCP to undermine women’s
health even today by conceding to its
demands to deprive women of a range of
reproductive health services, including
access to contraception for poor women,
comprehensive family planning counseling,
and sex education.
As a result of the criminal abortion law and the
discriminatory environment in the Philippines,
women are left without a means to control their
fertility, exposed to unsafe abortions, and made
vulnerable to abuse in the health system.