Forsaken Lives:The Harmful Impact of the Philippine Criminal Abortion Ban

The Philippines is one of the few countries in the world to criminalize abortion in all circumstances with no clear exceptions.

As a consequence, women in the Philippines continue to die or suffer grave complications from unsafe abortion procedures, producing a massive and unnecessary public health crisis and violating the fundamental human rights of Filipino women.

Despite the criminal ban, in 2008 alone, an estimated 560,000 induced abortions took place in the Philippines, 90,000 women sought treatment for complications and 1,000 women died.

These tragic and preventable deaths are a direct consequence of the nation’s restrictive abortion law and an indirect consequence of the lack of adequate information about and access to effective modern contraceptives in the Philippines.

The Report

The purpose of this report is to examine and expose human rights violations resulting from the imposition of a criminal prohibition on abortion in the Philippines. The information is based on the experiences of women who have undergone unsafe abortion procedures and survived to tell their stories. This report is intended to serve as a starting point for a dialogue on government accountability for the human suffering caused by the criminal ban on abortion and the challenges it creates for health service providers.

Download the Report >
Download the Executive Summary >

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The Report

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