MANILA: New York-based Human Rights Watch last Wednesday assailed the Philippine Supreme Court (SC)’s decision to suspend implementation of the Reproductive Health (RH) law as it puts women at unnecessary risk.
Human Rights Watch Asia director Brad Adams said Filipino women and families have waited long for the passage of the RH law to address grave health risks.
“The Reproductive Health law was passed by Congress to address the many grave health risks faced by Filipino women. By delaying implementation of the law for at least four months – a long time for an interim order – the Supreme Court is putting an untold number of women and girls at unnecessary risk,” Adams said.
“While we respect the judicial process in the Philippines, Filipino women and families have waited and suffered long enough,” he said.
Malacañang said the SC hold order would stop the law from being implemented but the government will have to argue the merits of the law before the high court.
Women’s rights groups in the Philippines played a key role in pushing the RH bill in both houses of Congress and keeping it alive in the national agenda despite overwhelming odds.
The Philippine Star
