the EO resulted in the withdrawal of all artificial contraceptives in city and
community health facilities. There is outright refusal to implement the RPRH law,
particularly with respect to provision of artificial contraceptives and in according
women the whole range of reproductive health services and information.
Accounts of women acceptors of artificial Family Planning commodities, the
nurses deployed by the Department of Health, and RH Civil Society Organizations
in Sorsogon City attest to the denial of RH commodities, the stigma accorded to
both acceptors of and providers of artificial contraceptives, and the financial and
psychological burden of the EO on women, especially the marginalized. Reports of
misinformation on artificial Family Planning commodities were also documented.
Since the “pro-life” declaration, the Commission has documented reports of denial
of family planning commodities, the added financial burden on women who have
to purchase commodities, unwanted pregnancies, women giving up their babies
for adoption, and of women from far flung barangays whose RH needs remain
unmet. To the present, the women of Sorsogon City continue to be deprived of
artificial family planning commodities from the City. Their needs, are instead
supplemented by efforts of the National Government through the Department of
Health (DOH).
Policy and Legal Barriers to RPRH
Other local policies were also found to be contradicting the RPRH law and
weakening its effective implementation. The policies that served as barriers to the
implementation of the law were the following:
•
•
the TRO on Implanon issued by the Supreme Court. The TRO remains in
place depriving women acceptors of the method while supplies of
Implanon amounting to millions are in danger of being wasted. This is
despite the fact that many health service providers and women from the
community prefer Implanon as an FP commodity;
the required consent from parents for adolescents to access RH services
and to have themselves tested for HIV. RH CSOs and Lesbians, Bisexual,
Transgender and Intersex advocates highlight the impact of the required
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