Month: February 2017

January 11, 2017

PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
Office of the President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace, Manila

Dear President Duterte,

Peace be with you!

When you assumed office as our Chief Executive, you have issued a lot of statements which inspired us; that as a President you will,

1. Uphold the constitution
2. Respect the rule of law
3. Recognize the separation of Church and State which means religious freedom  must be respected (because the state will not espouse any) tenets which are basic requirements of democracy.

We would like to bring to your attention therefore that it is precisely because of these concerns why a TRO was imposed by the Supreme Court (SC) on RA 10354 or the RH LAW. There were eight (8) provisions declared by the SC as unconstitutional and violative of :

1- Article 2 section 12 of the Constitution which states that life must be respected from the moment of conception until natural death

2- religious freedom

3- family code among others.

Last January 9, however, you issued executive no 12 which included strict implementation of RA 10354 (RH Law)

As a physicians and citizens of this Country, these are our concerns:

1. RH LAW VIOLATES THE RIGHT TO LIFE OF THE UNBORN
2. CONTRACEPTIVES AS ABORTIFACIENTS

A1. Pills

The issue on the abortifacient drugs and devices which would prevent implantation of a human being in the early stage of development is an important issue because it violates Article II, Section 12 of the Philippine Constitution which protects life from the moment of conception ( fertilization) until natural death.

These abortifacient drugs and devices which prevent implantation as listed in the textbooks of Embryology, Anatomy and Pharmacology should be identified, for example:

1. the birth control pills (BCPs) – Norgestrel and Ethinyl estradiol ( e.g. Lo/Ovral, TRUST pill, Femenal, etc. used by the DOH) –

It is important to take note that up to 1975, the U.S. Physicians Drug Reference only listed the following mechanisms of action :

1. Inhibition of ovulation, other alterations include
2. Changes in the cervical mucus which cause the difficulty of the sperm entry into the uterus.¹

After wards however, when abortion was already legal in the US, the third mechanism was already included:

3. Modification of endometrium preventing implantation of the fertilized ovum which can result to abortion.

(Abortion was legalized in the US in 1973. The 1978 edition of the U.S. Physicians Drug Reference already listed this no. 3 effect.)   

Why was the 3^rd mechanism of contraceptives which will render them as potential abortifacents were not included in the Physicians Drug Reference prior to the legalization of abortion in the US? For the simple reason that if this mechanism was included prior to abortion legalization, majority of these contraceptives would have been banned from the market prior to 1973.

Since Pill is a contraceptive how will it cause abortion?

Even if the woman is on the pill ovulation is not always suppressed since no drug works 100%.

Ovulation occurs in 2% to 10% of cycles of women taking the pill.

• known as breakthrough ovulation.

(Textbook of Contraceptive Practice of Cambridge (Cambridge University Press)

• later researches employing reduced dosage formulation of the pill which is currently being used, had shown higher breakthrough or escape ovulation in 30% of cycles.

                                            (Letterie, G.S; Contraception, 1998; 57, 39-14.) 

What happens when ovulation occurs while the woman is on the Pill?

• if the woman is sexually active, then the egg can be fertilized,

            Loss of the embryo or abortion may result through the following:

• transfer of the embryo through the fallopian tube slows down so that this new life maybe too old to be viable when it enters the uterus.

• more importantly the underdevelopment of the uterine lining caused by the pill prevents nidation or implantation.

• this 3^rd action of the pill remains to be listed in the website of the pharmacology of drugs up to the present.
• pharmacologists therefore recognizes the reality of breakthrough ovulation.
• if the fertilized embryo eventually dies and the remains are passed with the next bleeding, this will not be true menstruation but a form of chemical abortion because the uterine lining is rendered hostile for implantation.

(As early as 1967, the representatives of a major hormone producer already admitted that with the O.C.’s ovulation and the possibility of fertilization took place up to 7 % of cases, BUT subsequent implantation of the fertilized egg in the womb would usually be prevented.)

Abortifacient Contraception: The Pharmaceutical Holocaust
Rudolf Ehmann, M.D., Head, OB-GYN, Kantonsspital Hospital, Switzerland

The reality of breakthrough ovulation is manifested by “survivor pregnancies” as attested to by a study of Alan Guttmacher Institute ( the research arm of International Planned Parenthood (IPPF) a strong supporter of RH law worldwide). In theory, the Pill reaches an effectiveness of over 99% but in practice the rate is much lower. Between 1.9% and 18.1% of women will experience an ‘unplanned pregnancy’ in the first year of using the pill.⁷

• Even RH Law or RA 10354 itself states:
• Drugs and devices that prevent implantation are illegal in Sec. 2 (d); Sec. 4, (a)        
• It also emphatically declares that abortion is illegal ( 2, d; Sec. 3,d,e, Sec. 4, e, l, q. no. 3,s, Sec. 9, Sec. 19 no. 2, Sec. 23)

(Sect.2(d)…guarantees universal access to medically safe, non-abortifacient, effective, legal, affordable, and quality RH care services, methods, devices, supplies which do not prevent implantation of a fertilized ovum as determined by FDA. )   Continue reading