kyig6809@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kenneth Yerro Ilio ) (05/19/91)
Despite a Constitution which explicitly forbids abortion and the Catholic Church's firm stance against it, about 155,000 women in the Philippines have an abortion each year. This figure was disclosed by Dr. Florence Tadiar of the Woman's Health Foundation. Dr. Tadiar said that of the 1.4 M pregnancies in the country in a year, between 155,000 - 163,000 are lost in abortions. These statistics ahve serious implications on the health of Filipino women - for every four nursing mothers who die, one of these deaths was due to an abortion. It is a misconception Dr. Tadiar said, that prostitutes are the ones who most often undergo abortion. She added that abortions have been recorded for women aged 16 to 46, and peak among women with ages ranging from 22 - 29. These women have often had six to eight years of education, are usually Catholic, and 53 percent are legally married. She snoted that many abortions occur in the rural areas, where extreme poverty induces women to seek an abortion. According to Dr. Tadiar,l 40 per cent of abortions are performed by physicians and medical professionals, and one-third by midwives. To reduce the number of abortijons, Dr. Tadiar recommended that the government increase efforts to give women the means to prevent unwanted pregnancies. This would involve providing services for contraception, family planning and education. Dr. Tadiar rejected a bill filed by Senator Ernesto Maceda which would penalize health professionals who practice abortion, saying that such legislative measures are hardly the solution to the problem. Dr. Tadiar said "Why are senators so eager to punish women? What we need are services to get the right contracep;tive. We are asking lawmakers to be understanding to women who bore them." Performing an abortion is punishable with four years of imprisonment. Sen Maceda's bill proposes to increase penalty for physicians who perform abortions to ten years. The penalty for accessories would also be raised from suspension to permanent loss of their professional licenses. In the meantime, during Valentine's Day, some 2000 college and high school students marched through Manila's red light district distributing anti-abortion leaflets. The march was headed by Pro-Life, an anti- abortion group which organized the march to let prostitutes know of the dangers of abortion.