Imposing Misery: The Impact of Manila’s Ban on Contraception

“If Manila is violating some policies, we are just waiting to be sued. The policy was implemented many years ago. The DOH [Department of Health], the national government has not said anything. We are just waiting to be called to attention. Nobody calls our attention.”
— Official at the Manila Department of Social Welfare¹

Executive Order No. 003 (“the EO”), issued by former Manila Mayor Jose “Lito” Atienza in 2000, declares that “the City promotes responsible parenthood and upholds natural family planning not just as a method but as a way of self-awareness in promoting the culture of life while discouraging the use of artificial methods of contraception like condoms, pills, intrauterine devices, surgical sterilization, and other.”²  While the order does not explicitly ban “artificial” contraception, it has in practice resulted in a sweep of these supplies and services from city health centers and hospitals, depriving many women—especially poor women—of their main source of affordable family planning supplies. The EO also has had a chilling effect on the provision of information and services in non-city facilities and venues that technically are not subject to the order. Private clinics and clinics run by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that previously provided family planning information and services have been shut down. Health-care workers in such institutions have been harassed and labeled abortionists. Medical missions to offer artificial methods of family planning have ceased. Condoms and pills have gone underground.³

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