According to reports, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared 51 contraceptives as safe and non-abortificacient, or unable to cause miscarriage or abortion. In effect, this latest development has automatically lifted the temporary restraining order on the said contraceptives, which was issued by the Supreme Court in 2015.
Because of this, the Department of Health (DOH) will be able to distribute more than 200,000 birth control implants before their expiration date in September of 2018.
Part of the list of 51 contraceptives are injectables, like Protec and implants, such as Implanon and Implanon NXT, which can prevent pregnancy from three to five years. Intrauterine devices (like Mirena), pills, and oral contraceptives (Daphne, Estrelle, and Yasmin) are also included in the list of safe contraceptives in the Philippines.
For the full list of the FDA’s re-evaluation and recertification, click here.
“The first thing that the team will do is to recommend to the DOH the release of the implants that have been held by the TRO for the last two years so they can be used by women who need them,” former health secretary and Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law implementation head Esperanza Cabral told Philstar.com in an interview.
The effects of this declaration on the RH Law
Allowing parents, moms specifically, to have access to birth control measures as well as the right knowledge when it comes to family planning helps them become more responsible parents. It also enforces their human right to make choices regarding their own health.
As of this writing, the Department of Health is preparing to fully implement the RH Law.
“We assure everyone that the full and strict implementation of the RH law, which President Duterte ordered earlier this year will be fair, evenhanded and not adversely affect our people’s health,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told the Inquirer.
Meanwhile, clergy of the Catholic church have expressed their disappointment, expressing their intention to maintain their stance against contraceptives, pushing to make its prohibition permanent.
This latest development will also predictably prompt the House of Representatives to increase their 2018 budget for projects involving reproductive health.
Benjamin de Leon, RH Law advocate and president of the Forum for Family Planning and Development explained to the Inquirer: “With a major barrier to our family planning program removed, we can now assure that every Filipino of reproductive age are provided with the whole range of quality family planning products and services that are effective, medically safe and non-abortifacient.”
sources: CNN, Philstar.com, Inquirer.net
READ: 5 Common birth control myths that can lead to pregnancy