ANATOMY & AUTONOMY

Why is the woman's body still being treated as someone else's property?

- MIA CASTRO

In the wake of the overturn of the Roe v. Wade case that reverses the 1973 ruling, which established abortion as a constitutional right in America, women across the world have started to further question the security of their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in their own countries. In the Philippines, abortion remains illegal, but the number of women who undergo induced, unsafe abortion continues to increase every year.

Conversations abortion about are a controversial but open secret for Filipinos. It has always been talked about but in a hushed manner, surrounded by stigma and shame. In high school, rumors surrounding reproduction can be full of strife: there was a common notion, for instance, that when a girl is suddenly absent for a long time, she's probably pregnant. Then, there are others that are targeted toward women who have had pregnancy scares: drown yourself in partying and alcohol, be on a vitamin C overdose, or consume unripe papaya because, according to the Internet, these were ways to induce abortion.

It didn't help that during the passing of the Reproductive Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, known as the RH Law, our Catholic school organized a seminar about abortions-which included the airing of an animated video about the procedure that was clearly meant to instill fear.

Abortion is criminalized under the country's Revised Penal Code of 1930, which penalizes women and those who assist them with imprisonment. According to Atty. Clara Padilla-spokesperson of the Philippine Safe Abortion Advocacy Network (PINSAN) and founder of EnGendeRights, a nonprofit organization that advocates for women's rights-the Revised Penal Code is directly adapted from the old Spanish penal code that dates back to the 1870s. This makes the prohibition of abortion a colonial law, one that is severely outdated, she says.