About Misoprostol and Mifepristone Philippines
An unintended pregnancy is a pregnancy that is mistimed, unplanned, or unwanted at the time of conception. According to Guttmacher Institute Researchers, 54% of all pregnancies in the Philippines (approximately 2 million) were unintended. Unintended pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of problems for the mom and baby. If a pregnancy is not planned before conception, a woman may not be in optimal health for childbearing.
With the number of unintended pregnancies increases, the rate of abortion in the Philippines also increases. In the Philippines where abortion is illegal, obtaining an abortion from trained medical personnel can be expensive and that medical practitioners often condemn women intending to do abortion. Thus, majority of women experiencing unintended pregnancies resort to unsafe surgical abortion practices which may be dangerous, painful or ineffective way of aborting . Among these surgical abortion practices include the insertion of a catheter or other object into the uterus, which often causes infection and perforations, and heavy abdominal pressure or “massage” to expel a fetus, which a traditional practitioner (hilot) may administer. These are the surgical abortions done in an unsterile facility, with unsterile instruments and done by non-qualified or untrained personnel. These are associated with complications such as incomplete abortions, infections, profuse bleeding, uterine and intestinal perforations, cervical and vaginal lacerations, peritonitis, septic shock and even death. In 2008, an estimated 1,000 maternal deaths in the Philippines were attributable to abortion complications. Tens of thousands of Filipino women are hospitalized each year as a result of complications from unsafe abortion, at a rate of 4.5 individuals per 1,000 women.
We believe that every woman deserves an option for safe medical abortion. By providing genuine, effective and affordable abortifacient medicines, women will have a better option in terminating unintended pregnancies and therefore avoiding complications associated with unsafe abortions.