Advocating for Abortion Reform in the Philippines

In its continuing efforts to advocate for abortion decriminalization and reform in the Philippines, the Center for Reproductive Rights and its regional partner, Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network (PINSAN), recently developed a brief outlining the impact of the country’s restrictive abortion laws and advocating for abortion decriminalization and reforms aligning with international human rights standards.   

In Brief: Unveiling the Realities of Laws on Abortion in the Philippines examines the country’s abortion laws—including their origins and restrictions—and the laws’ real-life impact on the health and rights of Filipino women and girls.  

In addition, the brief outlines human rights standards on abortion and details recommendations by UN treaty bodies that have called on the Philippines to legalize and decriminalize abortion.

“This brief will serve as a crucial tool for building human rights-based advocacy around abortion in the Philippines,” said Jihan Jacob, the Center’s Associate Director of Legal Strategies for Asia. “It will demystify the national law and its impact on Filipino women and girls and empower the civil society, media, legal professionals and the public in demanding for a long overdue national law reform in line with international human rights standards.”

Highlights from the Philippines brief include:

• The country’s Revised Penal Code (RPC)—which has its origins in antiquated colonial Spanish law—prevents access to abortion by threatening anyone having an abortion or performing or aiding an abortion with imprisonment for up to six years.  
• The 1987 Philippine Constitution directs a state policy that is required to “equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.” The directive has justified abortion only on the limited ground of protecting the life of the pregnant woman.  
• Despite constitutional guarantees on a range of fundamental rights relating to abortion—such as life, health, and privacy—as well as the country’s ratification of major international human rights treaties, the Philippine government has failed to repeal its restrictive abortion laws.
• The laws’ restrictive legal framework has had a harmful impact on women’s health and rights, with several studies demonstrating an increasing trend in induced and potentially unsafe abortion rates in the country.  

“The restriction on abortion in the Philippines has increased the stigma relating to abortion and has led abortion seekers to find alternative means for an abortion. We see this with the increasing number of requests we receive asking for advice for unintended pregnancies,” said Kristine Chan of Filipino Freethinkers and PINSAN. “We also receive personal stories of being unable to secure proper post-abortion care due to fear and stigma.”

“To be a genuine champion in advancing human rights and promoter of gender equality, the Philippines must repeal its abortion provisions under the RPC and remove any unnecessary restrictions to access abortion.”

In Brief: Unveiling the Realities of Laws on Abortion in the Philippines

A Human-Rights-Based Approach

Positioning the realities of abortion and the impact of the law in the Philippines in a human rights framework, the brief notes that international human rights law recognizes the right to decide if and when to continue with a pregnancy as a fundamental human right.

The brief outlines the specific recommendations made by five different UN treaty bodies—including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee against Torture, and the Human Rights Committee—in calling on the Philippines to review its abortion laws and take action to legalize and decriminalize abortion.

“Hopefully, with the help of the changes discussed in this brief, we can look toward a future free from unsafe abortions and the stigma surrounding it,” added Chan.

Read the full brief here: 

>>In Brief: Unveiling the Realities of Laws on Abortion in the Philippines

The Center’s Work in the Philippines: Learn about the Center’s work in the Philippines to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights—including reforming abortion laws, increasing access to post-abortion care services, and ending child marriage.