DOH rejects proposal to decriminalize abortion

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Department of Health (DOH) rejected yesterday the proposal of a New York-based human rights group that abortion should be decriminalize in the Philippines to prevent desperate pregnant women from undergoing “unsafe abortions.”

Dr. Yolanda Oliveros, head executive assistant to Health Secretary Enrique Ona, said the agency is bound to comply with the provisions of the Constitution and other laws that prohibit abortion and uphold the respect for life.

“It’s not for the DOH to decide. We have laws to follow and these laws (promote) respect for life, no to abortion,” she said.

The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights pushed for the decriminalization of abortion in the country in the group’s 112-page report, “Forsaken Lives: The Harmful Impact of Criminal Abortion Ban.”         

The group reported that the abortion ban “has not prevented abortion in the Philippines but it has made it extremely unsafe” as pregnant women tend to patronize crude and illegal methods to terminate their pregnancies.

The center claimed that in many countries, abortion has been legalized for cases like rape, fetal malformation and when the life of the mother is in danger.

The group had recommended to the DOH to issue regulations clarifying the existing legal and medical grounds to allow abortion, to create a system to gather data on deaths from unsafe abortion, to improve post-abortion care, and to come up with strategies to reduce unwanted and unplanned pregnancies.

Oliveros said abortion is already one of the illnesses or conditions that hospitals are required to report to the DOH on a monthly basis.

“It is also mandatory for hospitals to manage or address these (abortion) cases. It doesn’t matter if the abortion is spontaneous or induced, the hospitals must provide them the needed services,” she added.

Oliveros said the DOH hopes to achieve programs to minimize unwanted and unplanned pregnancies during the Aquino administration.

She said President Aquino had directed the department to promote responsible parenthood by ensuring that couples could make informed choices when it comes to family planning.

The DOH will have to make sure that couples have equal access to information and services on natural scientific methods and artificial methods of birth control.

“There has been a gap because in the past six years, only natural methods (were being promoted) by the government. But under the new administration, we are hopeful that this gap (will be filled),” Oliveros added.