Allow safe and legal abortion, pro-choice advocates urge Congress

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Published: Aug 3, 2010 - 10:28am

Forsaken Lives: The Harmful Impact of the Phillipine Criminal Abortion Act from the Center for Reproductive Rights on Vimeo.

Pro-choice advocates urged Congress on August 2 to allow safe and legal abortion, saying unsafe abortion causes deaths, injuries and illnesses, reports GMANews.tv. Dr. Florence Tadiar of the Institute for Social Studies Action and EnGendeRights Executive Director Atty. Clara Rita Padilla cited the report by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) based in New York, "Forsaken Lives: The Harmful Impact of the Philippine Criminal Abortion Ban." CRR Pres. Nancy Northup said in a video, "[Forsaken Lives] is the first report of its kind that links the abortion ban in the Philippines to a violation of women's rights."

The report said that among an estimate of 560,000 Filipinas that undergo abortion every year, 90,000 seek medical help for complications and around 1,000 die, according to Inquirer.net. "Our Congress should address this issue by passing a law that expressly allows safe and legal abortion," Atty. Padilla said. "Women's rights advocates and reproductive rights advocates should also demand access to safe and legal abortion to address this public health issue."

The pro-choice advocates proposed abortion be legal if the woman's physical and mental health are at stake, if the pregnancy is a product of sexual assault, or if the fetus is impaired. Rejecting the proposal, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines lawyer Josephine Imbong said, "We have studies that the majority of women and mothers in this country love to have children. We cannot allow a minority to rule and change the law." She added, "If there are many drug addicts, does that mean we should make illegal drug use legal?"

As for the proposed abortion of pregnancies that result from rape, Imbong said, "The rape is not the baby's fault. Why should the baby be killed?"

Abortion in the country is banned under the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines. According to a video by the CRR, "Post-abortion care is legal... but women seeking care are often abused by nurses and doctors. Because of the stigma associated with abortion, that abuse goes unpunished."

For more on this story, log on to GMANews.tv and Inquirer.net.

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Tags: legal abortion illegalabortion abortioninthephilippines forsakenlives

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angie Aug 09 2010 @ 11:21am Report Abuse

@jujueyeballs: you're the one who posted that question that's why we are throwing back a question at you and calling on the flaws of your logic. it is BS because deciding whether to abort a baby cannot be solved by a simple "yes" or "no" answer. Also, being pro-choice is not the same as being pro-abortion. My belief here is that women should have options that would not jeopardize her life.
WiseAss Aug 06 2010 @ 05:50pm Report Abuse

Potential ng batang unborn? Walang potential iyan dahil unwanted child, and chances are malnourished/undernourished, tingnan ninyo iyang libo-libong batang lansangan, mi potential sila later on na maging mga lumpen proletariat, puro anti-social activities ang ikabubuhay. tama na ang pagiging bleeding hearts liberal ninyo!
Rachel Aug 06 2010 @ 04:59pm Report Abuse

oo nagtuturo sila ng moralidad-- and at the same time priests molest under aged children. How nice no? As for the potential of unborn children: if you read Freakonomics, one of the possible reasons given by the book for the falling crime rates in the US is that those people who would have become criminals have been aborted. Because unwanted children usually grow up in households that are not ready to take care of them in the first place-- there's no money for education, and their parents are worthless. Think about that.
deviant Aug 06 2010 @ 01:01pm Report Abuse

I wud like to react on Sebastian's post. Normal lng na makialam ang simbahan sa ganyang usapin. Ang simbahan na nga lang ang ng iisang institusyon na nagtuturo ng moralidad dito sa pinas, tanggalin mo pa? It's sad to think na sa pilipinas na isang christian country legalize na abortion. Dyos ko po! Kilabutan nmn kau!
abortionhorny Aug 05 2010 @ 10:14pm Report Abuse

Bwahaha!!!

Ok lang ilegalize abortion, basta lahat ng magpapa-abort alisan na din ng matres.

Tutal masyadong kayong maselan at sigurista, alisin na natin ng buo para hindi na kayo magka-baby forever.
anti Aug 05 2010 @ 03:04pm Report Abuse

aba eh, magiging masaya na ang mga malilibog nyan. Biruin mo kahit ilan ulit magbuntis ok lang, magpa abort nlng din nang mgpaabort..tsk! tsk!
jujueyeballs Aug 05 2010 @ 02:55pm Report Abuse

Pinaygeek: you hit the nail on the head!

Others: WOW, and narrow-minded ng mga tao na nagko-comment sa sinabi ko.
Kawawa naman ang mga litong unwed mothers na magtatanong sa inyo.

Ang BS ay yung population argument. We can also exterminate those who are living. Gusto mo mauna ka na since you're so passionate about it (and grossly misinformed).

I don't get the argument on "hindi ka naman nabuhay, so wala kang say": Ang tanong ay para dun sa buntis. Why are people looking at it from perspective nung baby?
Gusto ko lang ipaisip dun sa magpapa-abort yung POTENTIALITIES that the unborn child CAN BECOME, the opportunities that s/he will enjoy if s/he is allowed to live.The same things that the mother enjoys because of the simple reason that she is ALIVE.
pinaygeek Aug 05 2010 @ 12:27am Report Abuse

ika nga ni Ronald Reagan, "I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born."
angie Aug 04 2010 @ 01:05pm Report Abuse

"Kung nanay ko yung magpapalaglag at ako ang bata sa sinapupunan niya, ok lang ba sa'kin?"

Now let me pose another question to counter this (even if its logic is completely flawed):

"Gugustuhin mo pa bang mabuhay kung alam mong malalagay sa panganib ang kalusugan ng nanay mo kung ipagpapatuloy nya ang pagbubuntis sayo?"

Bawal nga at ayaw mo sa abortion, di ba?
angie Aug 04 2010 @ 12:58pm Report Abuse

I believe that should a woman decide to have her child aborted that it should solely be her choice and if she pushes through with it that she should be given the best care that medicine can do for her, no questions asked. The same way if a woman decides to keep her baby.

"Kung nanay ko yung magpapalaglag at ako ang bata sa sinapupunan niya, ok lang ba sa'kin?"

Well, this question is irrelevant cause in the first place you wouldn't have lived and thus cannot have feelings over your mom's decision. My advice to you man is to respect the woman's decision. She's the only who can know for certain the appropriate action to take when faced with this crisis.

I cannot say this enough but what a woman does to her body is solely her business. She's the one who's gonna go through 9 (or more) months of pregnancy, not the church, the state and all you moralistas so you cannot decide things for her.
Wapsy Aug 04 2010 @ 12:42am Report Abuse

100% support. A woman has a right to choose.
Leroy Aug 03 2010 @ 11:41pm Report Abuse

I'm with you Ana! but other than that ,we are close to 100 million people already, fighting for scarce resources to survive in our miserable country.No jobs, food, education, shelter, medical care, lowlife politicians, reactionary church,etc..etc..why add more people to join our misery?
Ana Aug 03 2010 @ 10:20pm Report Abuse

People are so quick to condemn without even realizing that there are valid medical reasons wherein a woman may need an abortion. Google it.
Men who will never ever have to face a decision in their life are so quick to pass judgement.
Until there is a comprehensive program that will help women not get pregnant when they don't want to anymore or shouldn't because of life-threatening circumstances, there will be clandestine abortions and women dying from them.
To Jujueyeballs and everyone else who uses this B.S. logic: Kung pina-abort ka ng nanay mo, you wouldn't even exist to ponder the possibilities now would you?
Rachel Aug 03 2010 @ 09:00pm Report Abuse

A woman has the primary say on what she should do with her body. No one-- the church, the state, or even her family-- has a say in it. And I don't buy that "kung ako pina-abort ng nanay ko" argument. B.S. Kanya-kanyang choice yan, teh.
jujueyeballs Aug 03 2010 @ 08:11pm Report Abuse

Madali lang naman yan eh.

Tanungin mo ang sarili mo: Kung nanay ko yung magpapalaglag at ako ang bata sa sinapupunan niya, ok lang ba sa'kin?
Sebastian Aug 03 2010 @ 05:55pm Report Abuse

i bet magwawala naman ang simbahan. alam nyo naman dito sa pilipinas. ang simbahan ang daming alam. hahahaha.
GIjane Aug 03 2010 @ 05:08pm Report Abuse

Dapat kasi mamudmod na lang ng condoms ang govt sa mga slum areas. Dito usually nang-gagaling ang mga taong nag-papa-abort.
FilMom Aug 03 2010 @ 04:56pm Report Abuse

While they're at it, legalize na rin ang murder. Diba pareho lang iyon?
Malthus Aug 03 2010 @ 03:57pm Report Abuse

Di lang abortion dapat, isama na rin ang Compulsory Sterilization. Mi mga taong hindi na dapat manganak dahil pampasikip lang ng mundo.Sasabihin Anti-Poor daw, pero dito nanggagaling ang boto nila Binay,Erap at iba pang trapos....

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