Chapter I

Introduction

When does life begin? What exactly is murder? Does knowing the facts about preborn life and
the methods of abortion make us more responsible? These are some of the questions when we
talk about the topic of abortion. According to the website [Link] “abortion, is the
expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it has reached the stage of viability (in human
beings, usually about the 20th week of gestation). An abortion may occur spontaneously, in
which case it is also called a miscarriage, or it may be brought on purposefully, in which case it
is often called an induced abortion.”  All major faiths have taken a strong stance on abortion
because they believe it raises important religious questions about life and death, right and
wrong, human relationships, and the structure of society. Abortion participants frequently
experience profound emotional and spiritual consequences. They frequently seek guidance and
solace from their faith, as well as an explanation for their emotions and a way to find atonement
and overcome feelings of guilt. Many people believe that the purely logical argument against
abortion is ultimately unsatisfying because it affects both the heart and the mind and involves
life and death. It affects both a human being and their God, according to them. It doesn't just
affect a person and their conscience.

During the first few years of the pandemic, when COVID-19 cases became more visible around
the world, rising cases, and a series of lockdowns occurred, the Philippines experienced a baby
boom following the lockdowns; due to the lockdowns, women were unable to access birth
control, resulting in unplanned pregnancies. According to experts, the lockdown will likely
disrupt reproductive health services for more than 5 million women in the Philippines. More than
1.8 million unintended pregnancies are already expected this year, and the University of the
Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and UNFPA predict a coronavirus baby boom with an
additional 751,000 unintended pregnancies if community quarantine measures remain in place
until the end of the year. Aside from that, teenage pregnancies are on the rise all over the world.
Women who have abortions are typically Catholic, married, mothers, and at least a high school
graduate, according to a national survey of women of reproductive age conducted in 2004. The
most frequent justification given by women for having an abortion was their inability to afford the
cost of raising a child or another child. More than half of those who had an abortion claimed they
did so because they thought they had enough children or because their pregnancy was due too
soon after their last kid was born. A third of women believed that their partner or another family
member did not want or support the pregnancy, and a third thought that their pregnancy would
jeopardize their health. Perhaps most alarmingly, 13% of women who had abortions said they
did so because they were pregnant as a result of coerced sex. Unsafe abortion entails
considerable dangers for Filipino women: About 1,000 women pass away annually due to
complications from abortions, which adds to the high maternal mortality rate of the country.
Each year, complications from unsafe abortions result in the hospitalization of tens of thousands
of women.
Two opposing viewpoints on how to most effectively interpret established facts are at the heart
of the debate over abortion and mental health. Abortion and mental health supporters tend to
stress the risks involved with abortion when interpreting the findings, whereas abortion and
mental health opponents emphasize pre-existing risk factors as the main cause of the links with
more detrimental consequences. However, both sides concur that: women with a history of
abortion have higher rates of mental illness than women without such a history; It is impossible
to conduct research in this area in a way that can conclusively identify the extent to which any
mental illnesses following abortion can be reliably attributed to abortion in and of itself. The

GCWORLD | THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD | INTRODUCTION 1

abortion experience directly contributes to mental health problems for at least some women;
there are risk factors, such as pre-existing mental illness, that identify women at greatest risk of
mental health problems after an abortion; and there are risk factors, such as pre-existing mental
illness, that identify women at greatest risk of The more subtle points of contention are covered
in detail. Multiple pathways for abortion and mental health risks are barriers to research and
broader consensus, as well as on temporizes positive and negative reactions, varying times and
intensities of reactions, ill-defined terminology, numerous causal elements, ingrained
expectations based on ideology, and unequal exposure to various sorts of women are all
potential causes.
Abortion's psychological effects have received little attention. Findings were constrained by a
number of obstacles. However, due to the chronic nature of psychological problems and the
impact of women's health on family and population health, different forms of psychological side
effects reported by the study population deserve more rigorous consideration.

Religion has a wide scope and has a huge influence not just on an individual but on the entire
society, religion imparts morals, values, and ideologies to the people thus it also influences how
individuals conceptualize, understand, and formulate their decisions. According to the
Philippines Statistics Authority, Eight out of ten of the household population in the Philippines
were Roman Catholics (81.04 percent). Islam (5.06 percent) and Evangelicals (2.82 percent)
followed. The remaining 11.08 percent were either Aglipayan, Iglesia ni Cristo, and others.

As we dig deeper into the concept of abortion and explore the religious views on abortion and
the social stigma that is created, we must first expose the reason why abortion is being
practiced. Planning for an abortion is a difficult task, it involves some moral, as well as ethical
conflicts, a lot of individuals who opted for abortion, have their own reasons like concerns
for/responsibility to other individuals, not wanting their lives to be changed by the birth of a baby,
young or unmarried, unplanned/unwanted pregnancies, relationship problems, mother health
risk, the fetus has an unacceptable quality of life, economic cost, rape incest, society’s moralism
to name a few. Religion has a huge influence on one's decision-making, the values, morals, as
well as ideologies, are being imparted to each individual thus religion somehow has an impact
on our decision making and it also directly influences our morals, values, and beliefs system.
Studies have found that religion plays an inconclusive and context-specific role in women’s
decision-making about whether to terminate a pregnancy (Adamczyk, 2008, 2009; Adamczyk &
Felson, 2008; Williams, 1982).  

In Islamic teachings on abortion, Muslims regard abortion as wrong and haram (forbidden), but
many accept that it may be permitted in certain cases. Islam allows abortion to save the life of
the mother because it sees this as the 'lesser of two evils and there is a general principle in
Sharia (Muslim law) of choosing the lesser of two evils. The view of the Islamic teaching
towards abortion mirrors the moderate view in ethics in which abortion can be executed up to a
certain stage of development and it tackles the principle of double effect in which one should
attain the good results and the bad results being the side effect. It is reflected that abortion is
permissible if the life of the mother is endangered, the principle of double effect states that a
person is morally permitted to do an act that has both a good and an evil effect, if there is no
other way to get the good effect and if the following conditions are not met.

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In addition, the United Methodist Church are still undecided when it comes to the legalization of
the abortion, but in their book of discipline it stated there that abortion should be legally
available in some cases. But in some religions like the nation’s largest denomination – the
Roman Catholic Church and the second largest church the Southern Baptist Convention
together with the other religions are not in favor of abortion.

 According to Lawrence B. Finer and Rubina Hussain's article "Unintended Pregnancy and
Unsafe Abortion in the Philippines: Context and Consequences," the Catholic Church hierarchy
has a strong influence on society and government officials in the Philippines. Not only does the
church condemn abortion, but it also forbids the use of modern contraception. Because religion
has such a large influence on society, social stigma [Link] stigma refers to a society's
attitudes, beliefs, and norms toward a particular subject. "Stigma is defined as a "attribute that is
deeply discrediting" that "taints" an individual's identity, according to Goffman's (1963) theory of
social stigma, which is often regarded as the preeminent stigma theory." Women who have
abortions are stigmatized because the interplay of religion and society's views is intertwined and
correlated. Religion influences society, and they regard these acts as immoral, sinful, and
impermissible, so women who choose abortion face discrimination, unequal treatment, are at
risk of unsafe abortions, and are vulnerable to abuse in the health system.
Stigma associated with abortion is the denigration of people due to their affiliation with abortion.
Few studies have been done on abortion stigma, and those that have been done have primarily
looked at women who have had abortions. We expand on this work and use the social science
literature to describe three groups that we believe are impacted by the stigma of abortion:
women who have had abortions, people who work in abortion facilities, and partners, family
members, and friends of women who have had abortions, as well as abortion researchers and
advocates. Despite the fact that these groups are not uniform, certain similarities and
differences across the groups can provide light on how people deal with the stigma associated
with abortion and start to show where the stigma originated. Beginning with the justification
offered by Kumar, Hessini, and Mitchell: the transgression of feminine ideals of sexuality and
motherhood, we analyze five reasons why abortion is stigmatized. Then, we propose other
factors that contribute to the stigma surrounding abortion, such as attributing personhood to the
unborn, legal constraints, the notion that abortion is immoral or unhealthy, and the use of stigma
as a weapon in anti-abortion campaigns. These reasons for abortion stigma, while not all-
inclusive, show how it manifests for impacted populations. Understanding abortion stigma will
help shape measures to combat it, which will directly improve access to healthcare and result in
better health for persons who are stigmatized.
As stated by the Center for Reproductive Rights' Facts on Abortion in the Philippines:
Criminalization and a General Ban on Abortion, it is stated there that “The stigma surrounding
abortion is perpetuated by the Government of the Philippines’ acquiescence to the demands of
the Catholic hierarchy, including the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).” In
a country where the church's dogma has a strong and visible influence on the people, some
policies and laws are influenced. Because the Philippines has a large population of Catholic
citizens, abortion is in their opinion immoral. Although we had different ethical perspectives on
abortion, such as the conservative, liberal, and moderate views, the influence of the Catholic
Church still dominated and asserted its position.
Abortion is neither legal nor illegal; it is both ethical and unethical at times. It is not a relief, as
many of them believe. However, it is still a debatable [Link] paper will serve as an eye-
opener for those who are still unaware of abortion, as well as a deeper understanding of the

GCWORLD | THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD | INTRODUCTION 1

various viewpoints of prestigious churches around the world and how this issue affects an
individual's religious beliefs.

The purpose of this paper is to present the impact of social stigma and religious beliefs on
abortion. This paper will shed more light on the interaction of religion and societal stigma in the
concept of abortion.
 

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