Legal , Ethical and Regulatory Aspects of Introducing Emergency Contraception in the Philippines

International Family Planning Perspectives where abortion is legally prohibited,2 the sale of hormonal drugs for emergency contraception is permitted. Such regulatory approval for emergency contraception enables health providers, including pharmacists, to be trained to help women use such methods safely and effectively. The question of when contraception ends and abortion begins may affect how legislation related to emergency contraception is framed.3 Many countries have no legal definition of abortion or pregnancy. In addition, reproductive health and rights advocates have often sought to separate the concepts of abortion and contraception. However, opponents of contraception and abortion can be expected to incorrectly equate emergency contraception with abortion to create confusion between the two in both the legal and political arenas. Restrictive abortion laws are likely to have only a limited impact on the actual use of the most common emergency methods (combined pills and the IUD). However, antiabortion laws could increase the likelihood that certain emergency methods will be restricted to controlled distribution points. In practice, easy access to hormonal methods in many developing countries has enabled women to use these drugs to prevent pregnancy on their own, despite the presence of laws or religious edicts restricting their use. Policies and laws that prohibit or curtail dissemination of health information on emergency methods can also drive women to use them without proper counseling from trained health providers or pharmacists. Emergency contraception administered immediately after unprotected intercourse would probably be legal in countries with somewhat restrictive abortion laws that use the medical definition of pregnancy—i.e., a pregnancy is not achieved until implantation is completed. (Such countries include Germany, Liberia and New Zealand.) This would be true even in cases when fertilization had most likely occurred, since preventing a fertilized ovum from completing the process of implantation does not constitute an abortion in these countries. Attempts at preventing implantation are not governed or restricted by abortion Florence M. Tadiar is associate professor at the College of Public Health, University of the Philippines, Manila, the Philippines. Elizabeth T. Robinson is associate director of information programs at Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, N. C., USA. Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Aspects of Introducing Emergency Contraception in the Philippines