Pia Cayetano says risk of cancer from using contraceptives low

Senator Pia Cayetano. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.NET FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Using contraceptives may cause cancer, but the possibility is low.

Senator Pia Cayetano made this argument after Associate Justice Roberto Abad cited a World Health Organization report that listed the use of contraceptives as the number 1 cause of cancer.

Cayetano claimed contraceptive use is actually at the bottom of the list of things that can cause cancer.

“It is put in the same level of microwaves, [and] television . . . ,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano took the floor before justices of the Supreme Court to defend the RH law as oral arguments continued Tuesday.

“No medicine is 100 percent side-effect free,” Cayetano said. If this logic will be followed, she said that therefore all drugs must be banned because of their possible side effects.

She noted that contraceptives have passed the standards of drug regulatory agencies such as the World Health Organization.

She added that contraceptives were endorsed by universities and organizations such as Harvard University, John Hopkins University and the Mayo Clinic.

“In any case, if petitioner did their research, they would know that contraceptives in general have been included in the essential drug list for many years, even before the RH bill was being discussed. Thus we simply institutionalized an already existing practice,” Cayetano said.