Doctors ask DOH to ban 'abortifacients'

The Philippine Medical Association (PMA), an umbrella group of doctors, urged the Department of Health (DOH) to ban “abortifacients" that may be present in the government's family planning program. In a December 10 letter to DOH Secretary Enrique Ona, the PMA said abortifacients "may include any device, medicine, substance, practice which may damage, injure interfere or recklessly endanger or cause the expulsion or death of the unborn child." An article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site said the PMA letter to Ona stemmed from last week’s consultative meeting between the PMA and the CBCP. In that meeting, representatives of both parties agreed on the premise that life begins at fertilization. Both the CBCP and the PMA said the fertilized ovum, the result of the union of of sperm and egg, already possesses life. For thr living ovum to survive it has to be implanted in the uterus where it will be nourished and given the chance to develop, the doctors said. PMA President Dr. Oscar Tinio said “life begins at fertilization" and anything that prevents the fertilized ovum from being implanted in the uterus is considered “abortive." “Therefore, if prescribed, may violate our solemn oath as physicians to save and protect human life particularly the unborn," he added. The “Contraceptives like intrauterine devices (IUDs) and certain hormones affect the environment of the uterus which ultimately will result in the failure of the living fertilized ovum to be implanted and survive," the PMA said. The PMA said abortifacients may include any device, medicine, substance, practice which may damage, injure interfere or recklessly endanger or cause the expulsion or death of the unborn child. “The PMA is against abortion and so is the CBCP. We doctors took an oath to save and protect human life and that includes the unborn child. The PMA and the CBCP stands united on this," Tinio said. Tinio said they are also willing to share their scientific and medical expertise to the DOH “to shed more light on the issue in order for us to champion even more the sanctity of human life." According to the CBCP, the PMA has a national membership of almost 70,000 medical practitioners. It also has 118 component societies geographically distributed nationwide, eight specialty divisions, 56 subspecialty divisions, and 37 affiliate societies. – VVP, GMANews.TV