The Philippines rolls back advancements in the postabortion care policy

Abstract

In 2018, the Philippines announced a postabortion care policy that rolls back crucial safeguards aimed at protecting women who seek medical treatment for postabortion complications from discrimination and abuse. It replaces another policy that was introduced in 2016, following years of advocacy by national and international advocates who were concerned about the mistreatment of women seeking postabortion care due to discriminatory practices in the health system and abortion stigma. The new policy is narrower in scope than the previous policy and reinforces abortion stigma by emphasizing the legal prohibition on abortion, failing to clarify that women seeking postabortion care need not be reported to the authorities, and not recognizing the availability of complaint mechanisms for women who are mistreated. These and other crucial gaps put the new policy at risk of being in violation of ethical standards of medical care and guarantees of human rights.