BBM holds on to pro-life stand on abortion with exception for extreme scenarios

Abortion pills

MANILA, Philippines — The choice of abortion is justified for “very severe cases” such as rape, incest, and medical condition, presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Tuesday.

“I think that if they if it can be shown that they were raped and it was not consensual sex and that got them pregnant, then they should have the choice to abort or not,” Marcos Jr. said during the 2022 Presidential One-On-One Interviews with Boy Abunda.

“The other is incest, perhaps. If the mother, who is usually quite young, is not capable—has mental deficiencies—or she’s just not capable, emotionally or mentally to take care of a child, those are the cases where we can say that abortion may be justified,” he added.

Marcos Jr. said women should be the ones to decide “since it is her body,” noting that there are cases where rape victims opt to keep their child.

“All the women in my life, when we talk about this subject, [they say] ‘it’s my body, I should decide,’ and I subscribe to that notion and I think that’s correct,” Marcos Jr. said.

“We can say rape victims, victims of incest, if the mother’s life and health are in danger if they take the pregnancy to full term, maybe that will be another possibility. But beyond that, I don’t think we need to do more than that,” he added.

Categorically asked if he is for abortion in severe cases such as rape and incest, Marcos Jr. said: “Almost certainly because we want to save the lives of people. We want to save the lives of women.”

“Again, as a public administrator and as a public servant, what you are looking for is to avoid all of these tragedies, every single one of these statistics that you read is a tragedy in itself. It affects the woman involved. It affects the entire family, it affects the community, it affects them for the rest of their lives,” Marcos Jr. said.

Asked about his stand being against the position of the Catholic Church, Marcos Jr. said he could not argue theology but insisted that millions are dying and hospitalized due to botched abortions.

“If you’re if you’re a public administrator, that should be the concern,” Marcos Jr. said.

abc