MANILA, Philippines – According to a study made in 2006, 800 women die each year because of abortion complications, while a study in 2003 showed that induced abortions among Filipino women reach 319,000 a year. Compared to adult women who have abortions, adolescents who abort are two to four times more likely to commit suicide, develop psychological problems, and three times more likely to be admitted to mental hospitals.
Child abandonment, the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one’s child with the intent of never again resuming or reasserting it, is often caused by a number of social and cultural factors as well as mental illness, and is another issue that should be immediately addressed.
Last January, a baby was abandoned on a Mandaluyong sidewalk, while another baby was abandoned near the Shrine of Divine Mercy. Some pregnant women enter hospitals, register fictitious names and false addresses, and then quickly escape a day or two after delivery, deliberately leaving their babies behind.
These and other shocking events have prompted Bo Sanchez, Rey Ortega, Ditas Espanol, and other members of the Light of Jesus community to help pro-life movements in their advocacy campaign against abortion by establishing the Grace To Be Born ministry, a group that convinces pregnant women in crisis not to abort their babies by providing them with alternatives.
The ministry manages a shelter at 53 Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue, Kapasigan, Pasig City, which serves both as a halfway house for unwed mothers and as an orphanage for abandoned babies. It also shoulders the maternity expenses and takes care of the babies, as well as those abandoned in the streets and government hospitals.
To support this endeavor, the group appeals to kindhearted citizens, NGOs, church and civic groups to donate money, foodstuff, milk, diapers, and other baby and pregnant women’s needs, with official receipts issued for tax deductions.
By offering these alternatives to women in crisis, Grace To Be Born ultimately aims to help in the fight against abortion and to successfully put abandoned infants in nurturing homes that would enable them to grow up and live in a normal and loving family environment.
Grace To Be Born ministry is duly registered and approved by SEC, DSWD, BIR, and the Mayor’s Office. For details, questions or donations, call Rey Ortega at 09275010605 or 09228597035, or Myrna Ortega at 09178039139. E-mail rortega_corinthians@yahoo.com and myrna.ortega@gmail.com.