source: Rationalist International, Bulletin # 71 (30 April 2001)

PHILIPPINES: CATHOLIC CHURCH SENDS WOMEN TO THEIR DOOM

Filipino women are trapped in a vicious circle. While on one hand the Catholic Church strictly prohibits contraception, poverty on the other strictly prohibits more children. The result is an extremely high abortion rate. An estimated 320,000 to 480,000 women resort to abortion every year, that are 20 to 30 out of every 1,000 women of childbearing age; in the metro Manila it is even 50. Another statistic says that 16 per cent of all pregnancies ends in induced abortion (source: the recently published State of the Philippine Population Report 2000).

Abortion is not only illegal in Philippines. Due to the influence of the Catholic Church it is as well a very strong social taboo. Women forced to discontinue pregnancy have to do this clandestinely and would not even admit having done it, if they suffer severe medical complications, because they are afraid of ridicule, criminal liability and social stigma. The methods of abortion are horrifying: for example insertion of sharp objects into the uterus or drinking of chemicals or toxic substances. Abortion is the fourth leading cause of death among Filipino women and causes many permanent disabilities.

Despite the steady rise of abortion, the population keeps growing at a rate of 2.3 per cent every year, and if not stopped, the country’s 75 million people will double within the next 35 years.

It has been one of former Philippine President Joseph Estrada’s merits that he made up his mind to propagate birth control. In an interview in May 1999, he announced that he was ready to defy the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on contraception, because he felt responsible for the welfare of the population of his country (see Bulletin # 11). The wrath of the Catholic Church against him has been the major factor for Estrada’s forceful ouster from power in January this year.