Aurora E. Perez
Professor, Population Institute
University of the Philippines
DlIiman, Quezon City
https://doi.org/10.57043/transnastphl.2003.4739
Abstract
Often a subject of emotional debates that unleash strong and opposing views, abortion, in particular, induced abortions, remains a health concern deserving public health policy action. While there have been several studies on the causes and consequences of abortion, data on a scale that would generate reliable estimates of the prevalence of abortion for the whole country remains scarce. This paper uses a mix of available data on abortion in the Philippines and complements the profiles of women who have had abortions with life stories to give the abortion statistics the needed human face. The compelling circumstances surrounding the hard decisions to terminate unwanted pregnancies show that Family Planning Program interventions on preventing unwanted pregnancies have the potential of reducing induced abortions. Given the combination of the secrecy of abortion decisions and procedures and the limited capacity of our health system to provide post-abortion care and treatment due to limited resources to meet competing health needs, it is crucial that imperfections in the use of the more effective methods of family planning are addressed to prevent unwanted pregnancies, an event in women’s lives that push them into preventable complications and ill-health effects of induced abortions and at worst, maternal deaths.