Abortion in the Philippines

This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: It is missing the provisions of the RA 10354, the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, on abortion and treatment of post-abortive complications. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2018)

Abortion in the Philippines is constitutionally prohibited.^[1] The constitutional provision that "[The State] shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception" was crafted by the Constitutional Commission which drafted the charter with the intention of providing for constitutional protection of the abortion ban, although the enactment of a more definitive provision sanctioning the ban was not successful. The provision is enumerated among several state policies, which are generally regarded in law as unenforceable in the absence of implementing legislation. The 1987 Constitution also contains several other provisions enumerating various state policies.^{[note 1]} Whether these provisions may, by themselves, be the source of enforceable rights without implementing legislation has been the subject of considerable debate in the legal sphere and within the Supreme Court.^{[note 2]}

An analysis by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs concluded that although the Revised Penal Code does not list specific exceptions to the general prohibition on abortion, under the general criminal law principles of necessity as set forth in article 11(4) of the Code, an abortion may be legally performed to save the pregnant woman's life.^[2]

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).