Notwithstanding these developments, women in the Philippines still face significant inequality
and discrimination in accessing reproductive health information and services. Following the
inquiry in 2012, the Committee found that the implementation of Executive Order 003 (EO
003) 11 and Executive Order 030 (EO 030) 12 in the City of Manila amounted to grave and
systematic violations of Article 12, read alone and in conjunction with Article 2(c), (d), and (f),
with Article (5) and with Article 10(h), and Article 16(1)(e) of the Convention,13 i.e. in relation
to access to contraceptive services, 14 abortion, 15 post-abortion care, 16 and effective legal
remedies for violations of women’s basic human rights.17 Since only women can experience
pregnancy and they have distinct health concerns, the Committee also observed that the lack of
access to reproductive health services reinforces “stereotyped images of women’s primary role
as child bearers and child rearers”18 and disproportionately affects women’s health and lives,
making access to reproductive health services an issue of substantive equality.19 As per the
procedural rules established under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, the
state party was informed of the Committee’s inquiry findings prior to the publication of an
official summary (Inquiry Report), yet the state party has provided no official response.
Ongoing legal, policy, and implementation barriers reflect the continued failure of the state
party to prioritize the elimination of discrimination against women and address grave and
systematic violations of women’s rights. The undersigned organizations would like to draw the
Committee’s attention to four interrelated areas of concern regarding women's reproductive
rights in the Philippines: (1) the lack of access to contraceptive information and services, (2)
continued criminalization of abortion, (3) lack of access to quality post-abortion care, and (4)
absence of effective judicial remedies. The letter concludes with suggested questions and
issues to be raised in the Committee's List of Issues. This letter reflects testimonies and
analysis published by the Center in its reports, Imposing Misery: The Impact of Manila’s
Contraception Ban on Women and Families and Forsaken Lives: The Harmful Impact of the
Philippine Criminal Abortion Ban (submitted previously to the Committee during prior
periodic reviews and in support of the inquiry request), and a fact sheet on the Committee’s
Inquiry Report, Accountability for Discrimination Against Women in the Philippines: Key
Findings and Recommendations from the CEDAW Committee’s Special Inquiry on
Reproductive Rights (available at http://tinyurl.com/PhilippineCEDAWinquiry).20
I.
Access to Contraceptive Information and Services (Arts. 2(c), (d), (f), 5, 10(h), 12,
16)
As recognised by the Committee, women in the Philippines face multiple barriers to accessing
the full range of modern contraception, which often contributes to potentially life-threatening
consequences.21 In finding violations of the rights under Article 12, read in conjunction with
Article 10(h), which requires states parties to provide access to health-related education
without discrimination, the Committee noted that unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, unsafe
abortions, unnecessary and preventable deaths, and women’s growing exposure to HIV and
other sexually transmitted infections are direct consequences of the state party’s failure to
provide the full range of sexual and reproductive health services.22
The state party’s 2013 National Demographic and Health Survey, which was released after the
Committee’s inquiry visit, indicates that three in every ten pregnancies are unplanned or
mistimed.23 The actual fertility rate is 27% higher than wanted fertility.24 Furthermore, the past
decade shows only a slight improvement in the contraceptive prevalence rate and in its 2014
progress report on the Millennium Development Goals, the state party was not on track to meet
Target 5 on improving maternal health.25 The unmet need for family planning has stagnated
and even increased marginally among currently married women from 17% in 200326 to 18% in
2013.27 As acknowledged in the state party report,28 teenage pregnancies are also increasing,
2