Name: Rhianna Faye Eliseo
Section: Myers
POSITION PAPER
Abortion is a way of ending a pregnancy. It's also sometimes called a
termination of a pregnancy. Abortion is not just a medical procedure—it is a
deeply personal and often painful decision that many women are compelled
to make under challenging and sometimes life-altering circumstances,
including health risks, financial instability, or emotional unpreparedness. As
an aspiring student leader, I strongly believe that abortion should be legal,
safe, and accessible for all Filipinas. This stance is not just a political
opinion—it is a call to action rooted in compassion, justice, and the urgent
need to protect the lives, rights, and dignity of women across the nation.
Every year, countless women face unplanned or risky pregnancies.
According to the World Health Organization (2021), The lack of access to
safe, affordable, and respectful abortion care, along with the stigma
associated with abortion, poses risks to women's physical and mental well-
being throughout their life. Inaccessibility to quality abortion care violates
human rights, including the right to life, scientific progress, and freedom
from torture. Safe abortion deaths are negligible, but unsafe abortions have
high death rates, with 7 million women treated for complications in
developing countries annually.
lack of access to safe abortion, Filipino women with lifethreatening
pregnancies have no choice but to risk their lives, either through unsafe
abortion or through continuation of high-risk pregnancies. Poor women are
particularly vulnerable to unsafe abortion and its complications, as they
face barriers in obtaining effective means of family planning and lack
access to reproductive health services. Common physical complications
that arise from the use of such crude and methods include hemorrhage,
sepsis, peritonitis, and trauma to the cervix, vagina, uterus, and abdominal
organs.
As an aspiring student leader supporting a woman’s right to choose is
really about one thing—respect. A woman has a right to make decisions
regarding her own body. Support for this right is found in a number of
human rights instruments, which ensure freedom in decision-making about
private matters. Such provisions include protections of the right to physical
integrity, the right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing
of one’s children and the right to privacy,Center reproductive rights, (2004).
Respect for her body, her life, and her future. No one should be forced to
carry a pregnancy if they’re not ready or willing, because that decision is
deeply personal and life-changing. Being pregnant doesn’t just affect the
body—it affects everything. It can impact a woman’s education, her health,
her plans, her mental well-being, and even her safety. As someone who
wants to be a leader, I believe we should create a society that trusts
women to make decisions for themselves, not punish them for it.
Some people disagree with abortion because of their religion or personal
beliefs—and that’s okay. According to the 1987 Philippine Constitution state
policy that is required to “equally protect the life of the mother and the life of
the unborn from conception.” The directive has justified abortion only on the
limited ground of protecting the life of the pregnant woman. Everyone is
entitled to their own values. But I don’t believe those beliefs should control
the laws we all have to live under. We’re a country with many different
faiths and perspectives, so our government should be fair and neutral, not
guided by one religion. At the end of the day, laws should protect people’s
rights—not take them away.
Some people might say that adoption is a better option, that a woman can
just carry the pregnancy and give the baby away. But that argument
overlooks something really important—the emotional, physical, and even
financial toll that pregnancy brings. Carrying a baby to term isn’t easy. It
changes a woman’s body, can lead to serious health complications, and
often leaves lasting mental and emotional scars. Forcing someone to go
through that, especially if they’re young, scared, or not ready, is unfair and
inhumane. The choice to continue a pregnancy should always come from
the woman herself—not from laws, pressure, or judgment.
I strongly believe that abortion should not be seen as a crime. According to
the center of reproductive rights (2004), Governments should respect a
woman’s human right to make decisions regarding her reproductive life. A
woman who decides to have an abortion—as 46 million women do
annually2 —must have access to the facilities and care that will enable her
to terminate her pregnancy safely. Governments that prosecute and punish
women who have had abortions penalize women for exercising their basic
rights. These rights are no less compromised when a woman who decides
to terminate a pregnancy can do so only by under taking a serious risk to
her life and health. International legal support for a woman’s right to safe
and legal abortion can be founin numerous international treaties and other
instruments, and the relevant provisions of these documents are listed in
Table I. The right to choose abortion has support in guarantees of life and
health, freedom from discrimination, and autonomy in reproductive
decision-making. It should be viewed for what it truly is: a basic part of
healthcare, and a deeply personal decision. Every woman’s story is
different. Some face danger, poverty, or trauma. Others simply know in their
heart that it’s not the right time. And that’s okay. We need to create a
society where women are trusted, supported, and given choices—not
shamed or punished for doing what they feel is right.
References
National Health Service. (2024, December 5). What is an abortion. NHS.
[Link]
National Health Service. (n.d.). What is an abortion? NHS. Retrieved April
7, 2025, from [Link]
Center for Reproductive Rights. (n.d.). Facts on abortion in the Philippines:
Criminalization and a general ban on abortion. Center for Reproductive
Rights.
