4 effectivity of the TRO, women and girls had limited access to contraceptives as a result of the expiration of 15 of the 48 FDA-issued certificates of product registration for contraceptive drugs and devices in 2016 and another 14 by the end of 2017.32 The TRO was only lifted in 2017 once the questioned drugs and devices were certified as “non-abortifacients” by the FDA.33 While antichoice groups have also attempted to restrain the FDA from issuing these certifications, their legal challenge has been recently dismissed by the Court of Appeals.34 i. Key updates on access to contraceptive information and services since 2016 Proposed recommendation: Provide the necessary financial, human, technical and other resources to fully implement the RPRHA and give priority attention to marginalized and vulnerable groups of women and girls including adolescents, unmarried women and girls, and those living in rural areas to ensure that they have access to the full range of reproductive health information and services particularly to modern contraceptives. Since 2016, the state party has failed to fully address the increasing need for reproductive health services particularly access to modern contraceptives among vulnerable groups of women. By the end of 2018, the country’s population is projected to reach over 107 million.35 It is estimated that almost 31% of the population (33 million) are women of reproductive age (ages 15-49) who are the intended beneficiaries of reproductive health services under the RPRHA.36 The key findings of the state party’s latest National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) highlight the disproportionate impact of restricted access to contraceptive information and services on women and girls who are younger and unmarried. The 2017 NDHS indicates that, despite the enactment of the RPRHA, the contraceptive prevalence rate among currently married women has stagnated between 2013 (55%)37 and 2017 (54%)38 and unmet need for family planning only minimally decreased from 17.5% (2013)39 to 16.7% (2017).40 Younger married women aged 15-19 still experience the highest rate of unmet need among all age groups (28% versus 13%-18%) and lowest percentage of demand satisfied (56% versus 68%-82%).41 Compared to currently married women, unmarried and sexually active women have a substantially higher unmet need for family planning (49% versus 17%).42 The state party’s crucial role in addressing the high unmet need is reflected in the increasing number of contraceptive users who rely on the public sector as a source for modern contraceptives—from 47.2% in 201343 to 55.6% in 2017.44 The high unmet need for contraceptives among adolescents who must secure parental consent to access them has resulted in an increasing rate of adolescent pregnancies in the country, exposing many young girls to avoidable pregnancy-related risks and harms. According to the Commission on Population, births among adolescent mothers aged 10-19 increased a fivefold from 203,653 births in 2011 to 1,040,211 in 2015.45 Comparing the 2013 and 2017 NDHS, the highest rate of adolescents who have begun childbearing is still reflected among those that belong to the lowest wealth quintile and educational background.46 The 2017 NDHS findings reflected that 15% of adolescents belonging to the lowest wealth quintile have begun childbearing compared to 3% who belong to the highest wealth quintile; and 32% of adolescents who have attained only a grade 1-6 level of education have already begun childbearing compared to 0.4% of adolescents with a college education. 47