Relisting Postinor

(published letter to the editor Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 23, 2002)

Almost a year has passed since Postinor was delisted from the drug registry by the Bureau of Food and Drugs with the approval of the Department of Health (DOH). This decision, issued last Dec. 7, 2001, arbitrarily stated that "Postinor had abortifacient effects." Even after the hearing on Postinor's re-listing on Oct. 4, 2002 the DOH has not made a definitive ruling to make Postinor available in the Philippine market.

The DOH's delay in making Postinor available denies all women in the Philippines their right to prevent pregnancy. Countless women who have been raped, engaged in unprotected sex, or who have experienced contraceptive failure are unable to prevent pregnancy. This is a blatant human rights violation. The issue that the DOH wanted to resolve during the hearing was the question of "what is the moment before an established pregnancy called." The only issue that should be resolved is whether Postinor is an abortifacient or not. The DOH should not rule on the basis of morals or ideology.

The World Health Organization defines emergency contraception (EC) a method of preventing pregnancy. It says that EC does not interrupt pregnancy and thus is not considered a method of abortion. Countries worldwide are not only registering EC pills such as Postinor but they are making them available over the counter, i.e, without prescription.

In accordance with good governance and policymaking, the best thing that the DOH can do is to relist Postinor in the registry of available drugs in the Philippines. As a government agency charged with addressing the health concerns of the entire Filipino populace, the DOH should rule on the basis of internationally accepted medical findings and not allegations of fundamentalist Catholic groups which have deliberately engaged in a campaign to mislead the Philippine government and populace. The DOH's delay is forcing desperate women to resort to clandestine illegal and unsafe abortion to terminate their unwanted pregnancies -- pregnancies that could have been avoided with the use of Postinor.--Clara Rita A. Padilla