abortions took place in the Philippines in 2012, which reflects an increase from 560,000 in 2008.33 Response of state party. The state party, in its reply to the LOIs, briefly responded by indicating that “[t]here was a proposal to include justified grounds for abortion in the [Philippine Code of Crimes] but this was not included in the final draft submitted to Congress.”34 Continued lack of access to safe and legal abortion. Since our pre-session submission, the state party has not taken any step to implement the Committee’s inquiry recommendations to decriminalize abortion in all cases and legalize the procedure on certain grounds. 35 While the state party’s reply to the LOIs noted the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) non-inclusion of legal exceptions to abortion in the proposed Code of Crimes sent to Congress, it failed to highlight that the draft also proposes increased penalties for all individuals involved in the performance of abortions, including women who have voluntarily consented to the procedure 36 as highlighted in our pre-session letter. Further, the absence of exceptions in the proposed Code of Crimes referred to in the state party’s reply is contrary to a recommendation made by the PCW.37 In 2014, the PCW recommended to the DoJ that “justified abortion in circumstances where ‘continuation of pregnancy endangers the life of the pregnant woman or seriously impairs her physical health’ should still be considered.” 38 The PCW “strongly recommend[ed] to retain the provision on the exceptions to the general prohibition on abortion.” 39 In addition to the regressive language in the proposed Code of Crimes,40 the “proscription of abortion” as an element of reproductive health care under the RPRHA41 poses real and substantial risk and harm to women and girls as reports of arrests of women and individuals involved in performing abortions continue in 2016.42 Based on interviews by the Center with some of these individuals, there are women who choose to plead guilty to be able to qualify for probation and avoid imprisonment, or have their cases dismissed as a result of compromise or the absence of prosecution witnesses.43 4. Please include information on steps taken to implement the following recommendations: … (iii) provide women with access to the full range of contraceptive services, including emergency contraception, and to quality postabortion care in all public health facilities. As highlighted in our pre-session letter, women in the Philippines face multiple barriers which prevent them from accessing the full range of modern contraceptives, including emergency contraception, and quality post-abortion care. These barriers continue to exist and steps taken by the state party to address the challenges as discussed below remain limited and inadequate. In a report released in 2016, the DoH indicated that use of modern contraceptives among women of reproductive age “remained at almost the same level” in 2013 at 39% compared to 44% in 2015, because of the corresponding increase in the population. 44