Illegal Abortions

[Jollygoodfellow]

Abortion is always a controversial subject as ones beliefs come into play,in my opinion people should have the choice or at least contraception methods available to prevent the need in the first place.What do you think about the sentence I have high lighted in red?I could not see the extra 2 tablets doing anythingPHILIPPINES: Illegal abortions - the risks and the misery Source http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84021MANILA, 21 April 2009 (IRIN) - When Jocelyn Cruz, 36, fell pregnant with her seventh child she decided the family could not afford another baby and tried to induce an abortion by jumping up and down. "When nothing happened, I started banging my stomach against the window. It was painful," she recalled. Finally, Jocelyn lost her baby. The family lives on US$4 a day, earned by her husband. According to a 2008 study (made public last week) by the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit organisation which carries out research on reproductive health, there are an estimated 560,000 cases of induced abortions per year, resulting in some 90,000 women being hospitalised for post-abortion care; and about 1,000 deaths a year in the island nation. The Guttmacher Institute, which worked on the study with the University of the Philippines Population Institute, said about half of the 3.4 million pregnancies in 2008 were unintended. The Department of Health (DOH) reports that, on average, Filipino women have one child more than they want. Abortion in the Philippines is an illegal and punishable act, with no exceptions even on the grounds of endangering a woman's life, rape, or foetal impairment. The minimum prison term for an abortion is six months, and the maximum six years. Only traditional contraception methods (with high failure rates) are advocated in this conservative Catholic country. Modern contraceptives are often unavailable and unaffordable. Potions Outside the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, a church in the district of Quiapo, Manila, street vendors sell homemade herbal concoctions to induce menstruation. Others go to a local 'hilot' or masseuse, a woman with no formal medical training, who uses intense massage on the abdominal area to induce abortion.Inday Poso (not her real name), 53, barely finished elementary school. She used to assist a mid-wife in childbirth deliveries and claims this is how she got her training to become a 'hilot'. Inday prescribes Cytotec, a drug used for the treatment and prevention of gastric ulcers. Relatively inexpensive, but available only on the black market, Cytotec softens the cervix and induces labour. "They drink one tablet and I insert two more in the vagina," she said. Well aware of the risks, Inday said: "I tell them they need to have money for hospitalisation. I also make it clear that I'm not going to be responsible for anything that happens in the event of complications." Disdain Celia Marquez, 40, went to a `hilot' to have her sixth pregnancy terminated. She bled internally for days and became very weak. When she was brought to hospital, doctors openly showed their disdain, calling her "Ms. Abortionist" instead of her real name. Junice Melgar, executive director of Likhaan, a women's NGO that provides healthcare services and family planning counselling, said maltreatment of women seeking post-abortion care is common in government hospitals. "We've had cases where women were purposely made to wait while profusely bleeding. Others are treated without anaesthesia, or not cleaned as part of post-operation care. Verbal abuse is also common. Some doctors think that this will teach these women a lesson." Covering up To avoid police intervention, health staff sometimes deliberately misclassify post-abortion cases as either medical or surgical, making post-abortion data difficult to find in health facilities. In extreme cases, women are refused treatment by health staff who fear being implicated. Under the Revised Penal Code of 1930, a woman who undergoes abortion, and anyone assisting her, faces imprisonment. A higher prison term will be imposed on the woman if the abortion is done to conceal her "dishonour". Health professionals who provide abortion services or dispense abortive drugs risk having their license suspended or revoked. This law has not been changed since pre-colonial times and is a direct translation of the Spanish Penal Code of 1870. Belgium, France, and Italy - also predominantly Catholic - permit abortion upon a woman's request. Spain permits abortion on grounds of rape and foetal impairment. Development goal at risk National health surveys conducted by the DOH in 2006 indicate that the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 162 deaths per 100,000 live births. An estimated 12 percent of maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortions, according to the DOH surveys. Experts predict that the Philippines will not meet its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce the country's MMR to 55 per 100,000 live births by 2015. The MMR is listed as the MDG least likely to be achieved by 2015, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). Elizabeth Caluag, a DOH officer in the Women's Health Division, said the department was doubling its efforts to lower the MMR. "The DOH is determined to meet its commitment to reduce maternal deaths, whatever their cause by 2015. We have developed a comprehensive health care policy to provide services for a seamless continuum of care," she said. These services, says Caluag include increased access to contraception methods and proper post-abortion care.

[TheMason]

Cytotec can be administered either orally or as a suppository. The oral method is typically used to induce abortion while the vaginal suppository method is generally used to induce labor in normal deliveries. Using both methods is intended to ensure it induces labor. It's nearly impossible to OD on Cytotec so the extra 2 pills won't do any harm.There is a pretty good article posted on Mother Jones from 2006 on Cytotec and its use in the US. Not much has changed since this article was posted.http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/1...order-abortions

Edited April 21, 2009 by TheMason

[Bruce]

Cytotec is widely used, however there is always the possibility of an incomplete abortion, which requires surgicial intrevention. That is where it problem come in. In every hospital district, there are doctors with differences of opinion. In using past history, the local people should have an idea of which doctor is more patient friendly than the others and offer treatment for a miscarriage, not an abortion...... The women needs to do her part by denying any abortion attempts and (loudly) asking the doctor to 'save my baby', which helps to divert any abortion notions.... At your cervix,Bruce

[Mik]

Abortion in the Philippines is an illegal and punishable act, with no exceptions even on the grounds of endangering a woman's life, rape, or foetal impairment. The minimum prison term for an abortion is six months, and the maximum six years.

The penalty is 6 months to 6 years prison sentence for killing your unborn child but simple possession of shabu (even 1/20th of a gram) is 12 years to 20 years in prison. For growing a single marijuana plant the penalty is life in prison. (There is no legal restriction to abusing tobacco and alcohol even though they can be deadly.) How in hell can growing a plant be worse than killing a baby? http://www.pdea.gov.ph/documents/RA_9165.pdf

[Mr Lee]

Abortion in the Philippines is an illegal and punishable act, with no exceptions even on the grounds of endangering a woman's life, rape, or foetal impairment. The minimum prison term for an abortion is six months, and the maximum six years.

The penalty is 6 months to 6 years prison sentence for killing your unborn child but simple possession of shabu (even 1/20th of a gram) is 12 years to 20 years in prison. For growing a single marijuana plant the penalty is life in prison. (There is no legal restriction to abusing tobacco and alcohol even though they can be deadly.) How in hell can growing a plant be worse than killing a baby? http://www.pdea.gov.ph/documents/RA_9165.pdf

The simple answer Mike is This is the Philippines, :D While I love the country and the people, a lot of things here just do not seem to make sense to my western mind. :rolleyes: :D

[Markham]

Abortion in the Philippines is an illegal and punishable act, with no exceptions even on the grounds of endangering a woman's life, rape, or foetal impairment. The minimum prison term for an abortion is six months, and the maximum six years.

The penalty is 6 months to 6 years prison sentence for killing your unborn child but simple possession of shabu (even 1/20th of a gram) is 12 years to 20 years in prison. For growing a single marijuana plant the penalty is life in prison. (There is no legal restriction to abusing tobacco and alcohol even though they can be deadly.) How in hell can growing a plant be worse than killing a baby? http://www.pdea.gov.ph/documents/RA_9165.pdf

The simple answer Mike is This is the Philippines, :th_exactly: While I love the country and the people, a lot of things here just do not seem to make sense to my western mind. :SugarwareZ-037: :1 (103):

That is a glib answer, even by your standards. The answer to Mike's question is glaringly simple: if you grow marijuana, there's every reason to suppose that you you will sell or give-away part of its crop thereby causing more people to become addicted.

[Mike S]

Markham ...... I think the reply was simple enough ...... if you take a life you only get 6 years ... but if you grow a single marijuana plant you get life in prison ....... Lee's comment was "this is the Philippines" ...... meaning that laws here don't always make sense such as the value of life is cheaper than smoking pot ........ nothing glib about it ....... And who is to say that someone growing one pot plant is going to turn into a drug lord ..... I know people in the US that grow pot for their own use and don't sell it on the street corner .......

[TheMason]

That is a glib answer, even by your standards. The answer to Mike's question is glaringly simple: if you grow marijuana, there's every reason to suppose that you you will sell or give-away part of its crop thereby causing more people to become addicted.

Using this logic, isn't there every reason to suppose that if you kill one unborn child you will then kill others, thus becoming a mass murderer? The penalty for a crime should not be based on the supposition that the criminal acts will escalate in the future.

[til]

Abortion in the Philippines is an illegal and punishable act, with no exceptions even on the grounds of endangering a woman's life, rape, or foetal impairment. The minimum prison term for an abortion is six months, and the maximum six years.

The penalty is 6 months to 6 years prison sentence for killing your unborn child but simple possession of shabu (even 1/20th of a gram) is 12 years to 20 years in prison. For growing a single marijuana plant the penalty is life in prison. (There is no legal restriction to abusing tobacco and alcohol even though they can be deadly.) How in hell can growing a plant be worse than killing a baby? http://www.pdea.gov.ph/documents/RA_9165.pdf

The simple answer Mike is This is the Philippines, :th_exactly: While I love the country and the people, a lot of things here just do not seem to make sense to my western mind. :SugarwareZ-037: :1 (103):

Actually there are laws in every country which don't make sense in my eyes. Nothing special in the Philippines about that.

[Markham]

Abortion in the Philippines is an illegal and punishable act, with no exceptions even on the grounds of endangering a woman's life, rape, or foetal impairment. The minimum prison term for an abortion is six months, and the maximum six years.

The penalty is 6 months to 6 years prison sentence for killing your unborn child but simple possession of shabu (even 1/20th of a gram) is 12 years to 20 years in prison. For growing a single marijuana plant the penalty is life in prison. (There is no legal restriction to abusing tobacco and alcohol even though they can be deadly.) How in hell can growing a plant be worse than killing a baby? http://www.pdea.gov.ph/documents/RA_9165.pdf

The simple answer Mike is This is the Philippines, :th_exactly: While I love the country and the people, a lot of things here just do not seem to make sense to my western mind. :SugarwareZ-037: :1 (103):

Actually there are laws in every country which don't make sense in my eyes. Nothing special in the Philippines about that.

That is very true. There is still a law applicable to taxis in London - which, incidentally, are still called Hackney Carriages - and that is that they must carry a bale of hay, a bucket and a shovel. For the horse, you understand!