Sotto: Pro-RH NGO is pro-abortion

MANILA, Philippines—A nongovernment organization (NGO) supposedly among the Department of Health’s (DoH) partners in its family planning program has ties to international lobby groups that implicitly support abortion, a senator said.

Senate majority leader Vicente Sotto III, the most vocal among those against the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, revealed that the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP) received a US$617,000 (roughly P25 million) donation from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in 2010.

IPPF, Sotto said, “has repeatedly and ambiguously called for the legalization of abortion in countries where the procedure is currently unlawful.”

In its website, FPOP said it is a member of IPPF, a worldwide movement of national organizations that provide services and advocate for sexual and reproductive health services for all.

“It is alarming to know that despite being connected to an organization that promotes abortion, FPOP is one of the partners (in) the DoH family planning program,” Sotto said in an interview.

The senator also claimed that the FPOP website has a link to the group Women on Wage Organizations, “which is fighting for the legalization of abortion worldwide.”

But in an earlier statement, FPOP said it is a very proud member of IPPF because only one organization per country earns the distinction of becoming its member despite many applications to become such.

“We also have a proud history being the largest and oldest nongovernment organization that provides continuous and consistent family planning and reproductive health information and services in the Philippines,” FPOP said.

FPOP has also admitted that IPPF promotes safe abortion.

“It is true that IPPF promotes safe abortion (as contrasted to unsafe abortion). But it does so only in countries where abortion is legal. In other words, it does not perform abortion where it is not legal,” FPOP said.

“Prevention and management of abortion and its complications is a recognized abortion-related service and is being implemented also by the Department of Health and other health NGOs like us,” FPOP said.

Sotto said he plans to come up with the names of other groups receiving funding from foreign sources that are lobbying for the passage of the RH bill.

“I’m basing the data on financial statements given by these groups. I will name more groups getting international funding in a few days,” he said.