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The Incidence of Abortion in The Philippines
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2. How prevalent is abortion in the Philippines? Note: No reliable statistics on abortion in the Philippines is available because abortion is illegal. No woman, doctor on hospital will ever admit to having committed the crime for fear of legal sanctions. It is estimated, however that one (1) out of four (4) pregnancies end up in abortions.
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Seventeen percent of pregnant women in Metro Manila undergo an induced abortion due to unwanted pregnancy, the results of a recent research showed.
The research showed that women resort to various abortion methods ranging from taking certain drugs or herbal preparations to approaching a "hilot" or traditional midwife to consulting a health practitioner like midwife, doctor or nurse. One of the respondents in a study among abortees in Tuguegarao, Cagayan, even had a hilot insert a barbecue stick in her sex organ to induce abortion.
In Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, and Tuguegarao, where the abortion studies were made, abortion, though illegal, is widely practiced.
In Metro Manila study made by Josefina Cabigon of the University of the Philippines Population Institute, 17 percent of the 1,169 women surveyed admitted having had an abortion.
Every year, as many as 750,000 women undergo induced abortion in illegal "clinics" all over the Philippines.
Many of these women eventually die from infection, hemorrhage and other complications
Statistics compiled by the Department of Health Hospital Development Plan for 1988 to 1992 reveal that in 1986 alone abortion was third in the top 10 causes of hospitalization. A large percentage of this is believed to be induced abortion.
In a thesis published in 1982 in Studies in Family Planning, 86 percent of 286 women respondents from Metro Manila, Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao said that poverty was the main reason for their undergoing abortion
The women's responses were corroborated by 106 practitioners interviewed in the same areas.
The study concluded that for every 100 pregnancies, there were about 33 abortions.
3. Who does the abortion? Abortion is done by hilots, midwives, doctors, or the woman herself.
The 1982 hospital-based study by Dra. Valenzuela found that among the women hospitalized as a result of induced abortion, most (46%) had gone to the hilot for abortion. Some 15% of these induced cases were done by the midwives, and another 15% were done by the patients themselves. The rest were done by doctors or nurses. A significant 15% would not reveal who had done the abortion.
It is difficult to say whether the above figures provide a representative and accurate picture of the abortion situation (actual percentage of abortion practitioners among doctors, midwives, hilots , etc.)
4. What reasons do women give for inducing an abortion?First, it might be good to give a profile of the women who have an induced abortion, based on Dra. Valenzuela's study.
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Half of them are married, but a significant proportion are unmarried and nulliparous (have not had a baby yet).
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Most of them (78%) are gainfully employed. Most cases of induced abortion are centered on the 20 to 29 age group.
Why do they have an abortion ?For those who are married: to space pregnancies; too many children; added financial burden.
For the unmarried: unwanted pregnancies.
Many have an abortion because the latter "interferes with occupation, studies, or employment."
The men do play a role in childbearing. Some reasons given by women had to do with their menfolk: some women are now separated from their husbands, others had a quarrel with the husband; husband has no job; husband is irresponsible; common-law husband has other family. Poor health was also cited (although there were no medical indications).
Over half of the women who had induced abortion are married, showing that abortion is used to regulate or limit the number of children.
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