In its concluding observation during its recent 136th session, the panel said that criminalization of abortion in the country “leads women to seek out clandestine abortion services that endanger their lives and health.”
The Philippines bans and penalizes with prison sentence the practice of abortion under the Revised Penal Code.
The UNHRC said that decriminalizing abortion would guarantee “safe, legal and effective access to abortion where the life and health of the pregnant woman or girl is at risk, or where carrying a pregnancy to term would cause the pregnant woman or girl substantial pain or suffering, most notably where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or where the pregnancy is not viable.”
The committee also recommends for the national government to strengthen sexual and reproduction healthcare services, including post-abortion care. The body also urges the implementation of comprehensive sexual education to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
According to the Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network, 1.26 million women in the country had abortion in 2020 and among them were poor, below 25 years old or were rape victims.
Divorce
The UNHRC is also pushing for the legalization of divorce in the country to protect women from domestic violence.
“While noting the bills aimed at legalizing divorce, the Committee reiterates its previous concern that the lack of legislation providing for divorce may compel victims of domestic violence to remain in violent relationships,” the committee said in its report.
Aside from Vatican City, the Philippines remains the only country in the world where divorce is illegal. It may take up to four years to annul a marriage in the Philippines.
In the 18th Congress, the House of Representatives approved on final reading the Absolute Divorce Bill. But a similar measure did not progress in the Senate.
Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Public Affairs Committee, earlier slammed the renewed push for legalization of divorce in the country, adding that legislators should address much bigger issues.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 6) — The United Nations Human Rights Committee called on the government of the Philippines, the largest Catholic country in Asia, to decriminalize abortion and legalize divorce.
