Feminist Organizations Call to Uphold CEDAW Recommendations to Fulfill SRHR and Decriminalize Abortion

The Committee also recommended providing adequate access to sexual and reproductive health services and information, including family planning, modern forms of contraception, and safe abortion & post-abortion services for women and girls, including those who are located in rural areas, unmarried, and women and girls with disabilities. 

A significant step towards women’s rights and gender equality is the reiteration of the Committee’s special inquiry recommendation in 2015 to amend Articles 256 – 259 of the Revised Penal Code to legalize abortion in cases of risk to the life or health of the pregnant woman, rape, incest or severe fetal impairment and decriminalize abortion in all other cases. As early as 2006, the Committee has recommended for the Philippines to remove the punitive provisions on abortion.

Jihan Jacob, Associate Director for Legal Strategies in Asia of the Center for Reproductive Rights stated that “[T]he Committee’s 2015 special inquiry report reflected the findings of grave and systematic violations of reproductive rights and recommendations to improve the SRHR of women and girls in the country including by decriminalizing abortion and prioritizing women’s well-being over religious ideologies. The World Health Organization in its 2022 Abortion Care Guideline reaffirmed abortion as essential health care and recommended for its decriminalization. Despite these clear and well-documented recommendations, the government has repeatedly fallen short in its duty to act. These recommendations are not mere suggestions but reflect the human rights obligations of the government to fully realize reproductive rights in the country where over half of the female population are women of reproductive age.”

As part of the follow-up reporting process, the Committee requested the government to provide, within two years, written information on steps taken to implement their recommendation to amend the Revised Penal Code to legalize and decriminalize abortion; including, the adoption of the Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Bill or the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill; and, in investigating and prosecuting all acts of abuse and injustices against women human rights defenders.

During the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Public Briefing on the Situation of Women in the Philippines to the Committee in Geneva, Switzerland last October 9, 2023, the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) raised issues such as SRHR accessibility of women and girls, the weak implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health law, and the discriminatory laws that limit access to emergency contraceptives and comprehensive abortion care. WGNRR, together with the Center for Reproductive Rights, Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network, No Box Philippines, NOVEL, and STRAP Kababaihan, raised the following recommendations to the Committee for the State Party to ensure:

1. Full implementation of the RPRH Act including provisions on SRHR of women and girls with disabilities, HIV/AIDS, and comprehensive sexuality education.
2. Repeal of discriminatory SRHR laws including on abortion, emergency contraceptives, and third-party consent requirements.
3. Adequate funding for and access to the full range of SRHR care including emergency contraceptives, trans health care, and comprehensive abortion care based on the World Health Organization’s standards.

During the Constructive Dialogue between the Committee and the delegation from the Philippine government, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights recommended that the Committee urge the government to “review the 3rd party consent in accessing SRHR services and the continuing criminalization of abortion; to expedite the passage of the law on divorce…, the [Human Rights Defenders] Bill, the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill, and the SOGIE Equality Bill”.

The government’s plan to decriminalize abortion was asked multiple times by the Committee members including by the Country Rapporteur and the Chairperson. However, no oral response was heard from the Philippine Delegation, instead a written response was provided after the session. The written response from the government noted that “[t]here are two bills pending in the House of Representatives seeking to establish a national program that will provide pregnant women with alternatives to abortion.”

One of the bills being referred to was filed by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez in October 2023. His first filing of the same bill was in 2007. Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte filed a similar bill in August 2023. Both bills promote the establishment of a national program that will provide pregnant women with alternatives to abortion. These bills, however, fail to provide abortion access or repeal the restrictions on abortion under the Revised Penal Code. Instead, the pending bills seek to actively promote childbirth without regard to a pregnant person’s decision not to continue with a pregnancy.

In the government’s response to the queries of the CEDAW Committee, they failed to mention another bill that seeks to increase penalties for abortion under the Revised Penal Code was filed by Rep. Villafuerte in May 2023. House Bill No. 7965 introduced by Rep. Villafuerte Jr. and Rep. Brian Raymund S. Yamsuan proposes to impose the additional penalty of perpetual loss of license to practice profession on physicians, midwives, nurses, or any other health worker who, using their scientific knowledge or skill, causes or assists in causing an abortion. The bill also defines abortives and abortive devices. 

According to recent news reports, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada during the deliberation on the proposed 2024 budget of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) threatened not to defend the proposed budget of the Commission allegedly because of their stance on the decriminalization of abortion. Executive Director Atty. Jacqueline Ann De Guia, in a statement in September 2022, expressed unequivocal support for the passage of progressive legislation that will empower and advance the rights of women and girls including the decriminalization of abortion, “CHR is also pushing for the passage of new pieces of legislation forwarding gender empowerment and women’s rights, such as the decriminalization of abortion”. The CHR also recommended in November 2022 the decriminalization of abortion as part of its Priority Human Rights Legislative Agenda for the 19th Congress of the Philippines. “With this recommendation, the CHR has played a pioneering role in advancing women’s rights and realizing gender equality in the country. Adherence and respect for human rights cannot and should not be used by the government to derail CHR’s budget deliberations”, Jacob added.

The Commission also played a vital role during the celebration of International Safe Abortion Day, joining the historic march of reproductive justice activists, human rights defenders, advocates, and women and girls from all walks of life to raise their collective voice for safe and legal access to abortion in Liwasang Diokno, Commission on Human Right grounds last September 28, 2023. 

Atty. Clara Rita Padilla, spokesperson of the Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network, emphasized, “Our legislators should be mindful that despite the Philippines being a predominantly Catholic country, we have about 1.26 million Filipino women who induce abortion yearly, and due to the archaic restrictive abortion law that was directly translated from the old Spanish Penal Code of 1870, there are about three women who die each day due to lack of access to safe abortion. I urge legislators to read the bill I drafted in 2020 to decriminalize abortion and call on them to step up and support the passage of the bill to decriminalize abortion to save women’s lives.”

Danica Shahana Magtubo, Youth SRHR Officer of WGNRR stated that “During the Presidential election in 2022, Ferdinand Marcos Jr expressed his support for women’s right to decide for their body, specifically on abortion. However, we have not seen this through legislation. We have not heard or felt the support any other than supporting legislation that will only impose further restrictions to SRHR and abortion access of women and girls in the country. We will continue to make the government accountable to its commitments and obligations. SRHR is not just an election topic, it is about the human rights of millions of Filipinos.”

Despite the recognition of human rights bodies and courts worldwide that SRHR, including abortion care, constitutes healthcare and a crucial component of one’s fundamental human rights, the Philippine government persistently neglects women’s rights to bodily autonomy. It discriminates against all women and pregnant persons whose lives and health are jeopardized due to inadequate access to SRHR services, safe abortion, and the healthcare providers who are diligently upholding their sworn duty to safeguard the lives of these pregnant individuals.

The CEDAW Committee is a body of independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Apart from CEDAW, several human rights bodies such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Human Rights Committee, and the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the Committee against Torture have also issued similar recommendations on SRHR.