Research :

Abortion

Names:
Bhea R. Magamay
Jhoana Mae H. Mandigma
Aira Mariz R. Martinez
Maxine Kim Xyndie V. Mejos

Section:
ABM 11-Henry Sy

Date:
September 21, 2022
What Is Abortion?

Abortion is when a pregnancy is

ended so that it doesn't result in the birth
of a child. Sometimes it is called
'termination of pregnancy'. Six out of 10
of all unintended pregnancies end in an
induced abortion. Around 45% of all
abortions are unsafe, of which 97% take
place in developing countries.
Unsafe abortion is a leading – but
preventable – cause of maternal deaths
and morbidities. It can lead to physical and mental health
complications and social and financial burdens for women,
communities and health systems.
Lack of access to safe, timely, affordable and respectful abortion
care is a critical public health and human rights issue.

PRO CHOICE

The right to choose abortion is

essential to ensuring a woman can
decide for herself if, when and with
whom to start or grow a family.
We’ll never stop fighting to protect
and expand this fundamental
human right. The Supreme
Court’s landmark 1973 decision
in Roe v. Wade that affirmed
abortion as a constitutional right
for all was supposed to be the beginning of the fight for women’s
equality and autonomy, not the end. Since then, we’ve been forced to
defend it over and over again as anti-choice politicians and
organizations focus on undermining and chipping away at our rights
until they can do away with legal abortion access completely. They’ve
passed hundreds of laws to restrict a woman’s ability to access
abortion care. These laws take many forms, including trying to outlaw
abortion altogether, shutting down clinics, restricting access based on
income level and dictating which medical procedures are available.
PRO LIFE
Pro life people proclaim
that human life is a precious gift
from God; that each person who
receives this gift has
responsibilities toward God, self
and others; and that society,
through its laws and social
institutions, must protect and
nurture human life at every stage
of its existence. It is supporting the belief that it is immoral for
a pregnant woman to have the freedom to choose to have
an abortion (= an operation to end a pregnancy) if she does
not want to have a baby.

COUNTRIES WHERE ABORTION IS LEGAL AND ILLEGAL

Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have
changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely
available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to
outright prohibition in all circumstances. Many countries and territories
that allow abortion have gestational limits for the procedure depending
on the reason; with the majority being up to 12 weeks for abortion on
request, up to 24 weeks for rape, incest, or socioeconomic reasons,
and more for fetal impairment or risk to the woman's health or life. As
of 2022, countries that legally allow abortion on request or for
socioeconomic reasons comprise about 60% of the world's population

According to a report by Women on Waves, better source

needed approximately 25% of the world's population as of? lives in
countries with "highly restrictive abortion laws"—that is, laws which
either completely ban abortion, or allow it only to save the mother's
life. This category includes several countries in Latin America, Africa,
the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region, as well as Malta in Europe.
The Center for Reproductive Rights report that the inability to access
safe and legal abortion care impacts 700 million women of
reproductive age. Some of the countries of Central America,
notably El Salvador, have also come to international attention due to
very forceful enforcement of the laws, including the incarceration of a
gang-rape victim for homicide when she gave birth to a stillborn son
and was accused of attempting an illegal abortion. Abortions are
completely banned in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras
and Nicaragua, and only allowed in certain restricted circumstances in
most other Latin American nations.

Exceptions in abortion laws occur either in countries where abortion is

as a general rule illegal or in countries that have abortion on request
with gestational limits. For example, if a country allows abortion on
request until 12 weeks, it may create exceptions to this general
gestation limit for later abortions in specific circumstances.
There are a few exceptions commonly found in abortion laws. Legal
domains which do not have abortion on demand will often allow it
when the health of the mother is at stake. "Health of the mother" may
mean something different in different areas: for example, prior to
December 2018, the Republic of Ireland allowed abortion only to save
the mother's life, whereas abortion opponents in the United
States argue health exceptions are used so broadly as to render a ban
essentially meaningless. Laws allowing abortion in cases of rape
or incest often differ. For example, before Roe v. Wade, thirteen U.S.
states allowed abortion in the case of either rape or incest, but
only Mississippi permitted abortion of pregnancies due to rape, and no
state permitted it for just incest. Many vague countries allow abortion
only through the first or second trimester, and some may allow
abortion in cases of fetal defects, e.g., Down syndrome, or where the
pregnancy is the result of a sexual crime.

ABORTION IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Center started its work
in the Philippines by addressing the
issue of women’s access to
contraceptives in Manila City, the
country’s capital, where a de facto
ban on modern contraceptives was
put into effect in 2000. Our work
with local partners led to the filing
of a case before the local court
challenging the constitutionality of the ban and eventually of a special
inquiry request before the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women. Since then, we have expanded our
work to include challenging the country’s restrictive laws on abortion
and women’s access to respectful and quality post-abortion care
services. The Philippine government has made efforts to improve
access to contraceptive services, but abortion is illegal under all
circumstances and is thus highly stigmatized. Nonetheless, abortion is
common, but is often performed in unsanitary conditions and using
outdated techniques. Policymakers and government agencies should
educate the public about contraception, ensure adequate funding for
contraceptive services and eliminate barriers to obtaining methods,
particularly among disadvantaged populations. To help destigmatize
postabortion care, the government should train more providers in the
use of safer and less invasive methods of care.

RIGHTS AND ORGANIZATION

Access to safe, legal abortion is a matter of human rights.

Authoritative interpretations of international human rights law establish
that denying women, girls, and other pregnant people access to
abortion is a form of discrimination and jeopardizes a range of human
rights. United Nations human rights treaty bodies regularly call for
governments to decriminalize abortion in all cases and to ensure
access to safe, legal abortion in certain circumstances at a minimum.
Human Rights Watch believes that reproductive rights are human
rights, including the right to access to abortion. States have the
obligation to provide women, girls, and other pregnant people with
access to safe and legal abortion as part of their core human rights
responsibilities.

National Abortion Federation

NAF Hotline The Hotline provides
unbiased information about abortion, referrals
to quality providers, and financial assistance.
It’s free and offers services to everyone,
regardless of their individual situation.

Center for Productive Rights

The Center for Reproductive Rights works nationally and
internationally to expand access to reproductive healthcare for women
around the world. We have conducted years of investigative research
into the status of reproductive rights in the Philippines. The facts are
as follows: For over a century, abortion has been criminalized in the
Philippines. The criminal
provisions on abortion do not
contain any exceptions
allowing abortion, including
to save the life of the
pregnant woman or to
protect her health. Abortion
was criminalized through the
Penal Code of 1870 under Spanish colonial rule, and the criminal
provisions were incorporated into the Revised Penal Code passed in
1930 under U.S. occupation of the Philippines. The criminalization of
abortion has not prevented abortion, but instead has made the
procedure unsafe and potentially deadly for the over half a million
women each year who try to terminate their pregnancies. Because of
the lack of access to safe abortion, Filipino women with life threatening
pregnancies have no choice but to risk their lives, either through
unsafe abortion or through continuation of high-risk pregnancies. Poor
women are particularly vulnerable to unsafe abortion and its
complications, as they face barriers in obtaining effective means of
family planning and lack access to reproductive health services.
Common physical complications that arise from the use of such crude
and dangerous methods include hemorrhage, sepsis, peritonitis, and
trauma to the cervix, vagina, uterus, and abdominal organs. The
criminal abortion ban has stigmatized the procedure in the medical
community, so that women face tremendous barriers and significant
abuse when they seek treatment for abortion complications. Filipino
women who seek treatment for complications from unsafe abortion
have repeatedly reported that the stigma around abortion means that
healthcare workers are unwilling to provide care or only treat women
after “punishing” women who have undergone abortions by
threatening to report them to the police, harassing women verbally and
physically, or delaying care. Filipino women who have undergone
unsafe abortions for health reasons report that healthcare workers
have not been sympathetic to their situation, but instead continue to
abuse and threaten them.