Remulla: No to decriminalizing abortion

The government will not comply with the call of the United Nations Human Rights Council to decriminalize abortion.

Justice Sec. Boying Remulla called the UN petition as "culturally reprehensible."

"I don't think we are ready for the idea of an over-the-counter abortion. I don't think we want that," Remulla said.

He was recently in Geneva to participate in the UNHRC periodic review of the rights situation in the Philippines. He said of the 297 recommendations from UNHRC member countries to the Philippine government, 200 were accepted.

Most of the recommendations are already being implemented, particularly those involving the probe into the series of killings at the height of the war on drugs.

The UNHRC said the Philippine government should decriminalize abortion and improve sexual and reproductive health services, such as post-abortion healthcare in the country.

In a recently released concluding observation at its 136th session, the UNHRC said it acknowledged the Philippines' "efforts to reduce unsafe abortion and maternal mortality."

However, the UN body stressed its longstanding concern over the criminalization of abortion in the Philippines, which does not offer women any option but to undergo induced, unsafe abortion services that put their lives and health in danger.

The Philippines does not consider abortion a legitimate medical procedure.

Remulla added the UNHRC recommendation on the alleged killings in the drug war has, in effect, been accepted since the government is already doing something about it.

The call to rejoin the International Criminal Court was not accepted. Remulla said it will require consultations from many sectors including Congress and former President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Philippines was among the signatories of the Rome Statute that created the ICC, but in 2019 Duterte ordered the country's withdrawal from the agreement.

The Philippines, Remulla said, is set to submit within the year its position for each recommendation: "We have until December to submit."