“Let’s keep talking — without fear, judgment, or prejudice”
MANY years ago, somebody I know made the painful decision to terminate a pregnancy because life was difficult and she did not want to have any more children. At that time, her husband, a construction worker, was jobless. She herself was a stay-at-home mother, with two older children to care for. Neither she nor her husband finished their studies. They were barely making ends meet and had to rely on loans from relatives to get by. Any income was not enough to cover their debts and their day-to-day concerns.
She took something and then bled — so profusely that she had to be taken to the hospital. It did not help that she was, from the beginning, already so thin and was not able to get proper nourishment.
Another acquaintance did the same, under different circumstances and for different reasons. She had just returned to her hometown to work after graduating from university. She was the first in the family to finish college. Her parents had low-paying jobs and she had three younger siblings to support. It was clear at the outset that she was expected to assume responsibility for the family. She had not yet given thought to whether she wanted to have children eventually. Certainly, she did not want to have children at that time.
Fortunately for her, she did not encounter problems as a result of her abortion.
These stories came to mind as I saw the movie Sunshine, which, in deliberate irony, tackles the grim and dark reality of abortion in the Philippines.
Sunshine is a college student and a gymnast, with her sights set on the Olympics. She lives with her older sister and younger brother in a cramped home in Manila. The parents are not in the picture. The older sister has a baby but no husband is in sight, so Sunshine and her brother are sometimes asked to help care for the baby.
Sunshine’s boyfriend is from a well off family, the son of a pastor. When she tells him the news, the boy immediately admonishes her to get rid of the baby. He says his father, given his moral ascendancy, must not know about the pregnancy. Sunshine asks him for money and decides to abort: it is a crucial time in her sporting journey and the pregnancy would throw her off-track.
She goes to Quiapo – first to pray, and then to inquire about abortifacients sold alongside religious statues. Once the abortion is performed, Sunshine finds herself in excruciating pain, and lands in the hospital where she gets a good scolding from a moralist doctor.
I will not disclose anything more, except that the beautifully-shot and -acted film succeeds by simply bringing up a topic that is either not talked about at all or is discussed simplistically.
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First, some basics. The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, and the faith says that abortion is a mortal sin.
Abortion is also illegal. Article II, Section 12 of the 1987 Constitution says that the State “shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.” There are also provisions in the Revised Penal Code (Articles 256-259), that tackle intentional and unintentional abortion, abortion practiced by the woman herself or her parents, and abortion practiced by a physician or midwife, and dispensing of abortives
There are numerous situations that push women to contemplate getting an abortion. The women I knew did it out of poverty and ambition. Many others succumb to societal pressure, while some are survivors of rape or incest. Others go through it for medical reasons. Some simply do not want to bring another life into the world.
As we know too well, despite the religious and legal prohibitions, abortion is happening anyway. We cannot close our eyes and pretend otherwise. We cannot, just because the issue is uncomfortable or awkward, dissociate ourselves from the reality of abortions and the scar it leaves on women and on society. Imagine the harrowing state of mind of those who feel they’ve been pushed against the wall and left with little choice.
But since abortions are taking place underground, the system that usually protects women needing medical attention is absent. In its place are dangerous, unregulated substitutes that create problems. In the meantime, people are quick to judge.
The issue used to be talked about in whispers. Indeed we have a long way to go before we can find a way to navigate this morally murky area. At the very least, conversations are taking place. We just need to keep talking – without fear, judgment, or prejudice. a
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