At present, opposition to contraception is, in all probability, hurting the Philippines. Each year, more than half of the 3.4 million pregnancies in the country are unplanned. This extremely high rate of unintended pregnancies results in high costs to women, their families and the national health care system, and impedes development efforts. Yet, unintended pregnancies are preventable if women simply have access to family planning information and services, particularly modern contraceptive methods.
A 2009 study by the University of the Philippines Population Institute and the Guttmacher Institute shows that investing in contraception not only enables women to plan births and avoid the serious health complications that often accompany unintended pregnancy, but also saves money.
The findings make a strong case for increased spending on contraception nationwide. Ensuring that all women in the Philippines who are particularly at risk of having unplanned pregnancies have access to modern contraceptive methods would result in an estimated 800,000 fewer unplanned births, 500,000 fewer induced abortions and 200,000 fewer miscarriages each year. It also would prevent the deaths of 2,100 women—nearly half of all the deaths from pregnancy-related causes.
Providing modern contraceptive services to all women who need them would raise annual family planning costs from $41.4 million to $87.2 million. However, the medical costs associated with unintended pregnancy, including treating the consequences of unsafe abortion, would likely fall dramatically—from $76.3 million to $13.1 million, by one estimate. The net savings—$17.4 million—could be used to improve and expand a range of health and social services, and thereby increase the Philippines’ ability to achieve its development goals.
Ensuring contraceptive access is especially critical to improving the health of poor women, who face the greatest barriers in achieving the family size they desire. Investing in contraception is investing in healthier families and communities and, ultimately, in a more prosperous country.
