By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
and MARYA SALAMAT
A study on abortion in the Philippines argues that the government has committed violations of human rights by criminalizing abortion regardless of circumstance. Another study, done by Gabriela, finds that abortion is increasingly becoming acceptable to Filipinos.
In the Philippines, there is today an alarming trend on incidences of abortion that, because these are forced to be done clandestinely, have also often been unsafe.
This is the full report of “Forsaken Lives:The Harmful Impact of the Philippine Criminal Abortion Ban,” which the Center for Reproductive Rights released in Manila on Aug. 2, 2010. The report details the impact of the outlawing of abortion, without exception, in the predominantly Catholic country. Below is the executive summary of the report: