In 2012, the Philippines enacted the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, known as the Reproductive Health Law (RH Law), which guaranteed universal and free access to nearly all modern contraceptives to all citizens, including those living in poverty, through government health centers. The law also mandated reproductive health education in government schools and recognized the right to post-abortion care as part of the right to reproductive healthcare.
The RH Law was immediately challenged by various religious and conservative groups. The Supreme Court of the Philippines issued an order preventing the law from going into effect pending a final judgment. The RH Law was challenged on the grounds that it violated a range of constitutional rights, such as the rights to life, health, freedom of religion and speech, and privacy.
The Supreme Court upheld most of the RH Law as “not unconstitutional,” while striking down eight individual provisions that the Court determined violated constitutionally-protected rights. First, on the right to life of the unborn, while the Court opted not to make any determination on when life begins, it found that the RH Law itself clearly mandated that protection be afforded from the moment of fertilization. The Court then noted that the RH Law contains provisions embodying the policy of the law to protect the fertilized ovum and that the fertilized ovum should be afforded safe travel to the uterus for implantation. To date, this determination has resulted in the requirement that contraceptives be certified as non-abortifacients before being made publicly available. Second, on petitioners’ claim that there are health risks to women who use oral contraceptives as compared to women who never use them, the Court noted that the attack on the Law is premature because not a single contraceptive had yet been submitted to the FDA for approval pursuant to the RH Law.
The Court also ruled that, in accordance with the principle of non-coercion, an individual conscientious objector should be exempt from compliance with the RH Law’s mandates. The Court also applied the same exemption to non-maternity specialty hospitals owned and operated by a religious group and health care service providers, as it found no compelling state interest which would limit conscientious objectors’ free exercise of their rights in this regard. On the right to privacy, the Court noted that decision-making on a reproductive health procedure is a private matter which belongs to the couple, not just the individual, and that it is “anti-family” to allow minors to access non-emergency reproductive health services, including contraceptives, without written parental consent.
As a result, the government is still mandated to provide free contraceptive services, ensure inclusion of adolescents’ reproductive health education in the educational system, and ensure access to post-abortion care services. However, because the Court found certain provisions unconstitutional, health care providers are able to deny reproductive health services to patients based on personal or religious beliefs in non-emergency situations. In addition, spousal consent for women in non-life-threatening circumstances will be required to access reproductive health care, and parental consent will be required in order for minors who have been pregnant or who had a miscarriage to access contraceptive services or undergo elective reproductive health procedures.