The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012

(Republic Act No. 10354)

GROUP MEMBERS:
Barluado, Marx Caesar
Baunto, Noor-Hafsah
Brasilleno, Angela Thea
Ceniza, Darhem FZM
Idris, Naeem
Mambuay, Fatmah Harisa
Manda, Jehan
Openiano, Roshe Ana
Pinto, Norhanah
 The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012
(Republic Act No. 10354)
BACKGROUND
Republic Act No. 10354, a national policy that mandates the Philippine government to
comprehensively address the needs of Filipino citizens when it comes to responsible parenthood
and reproductive health.
Date enacted: December 19, 2012
Date signed: December 21, 2012
Signed by: Benigno Aquino III
Date Commenced: January 17, 2013

PURPOSE

The Elements of the RH Law

They are:
(1) Family planning information and services;
(2) Maternal, infant and child health and nutrition, including breast feeding;
(3) Prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications;
(4) Adolescent and youth reproductive health guidance and counseling;
(5) Prevention and management of reproductive tract infections (RTIs),
HIV/AIDS and sexually transmittable infections (STIs);
(6) Elimination of violence against women and children and other forms of
sexual and gender-based violence;
(7) Education and counselling on sexuality and reproductive health;
(8) Treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers and other gynecologic
conditions and disorders;
(9) Male responsibility and involvement and men’s RH;
(10) Prevention, treatment and management of infertility and sexual
dysfunction;
(11) RH education for the adolescents; and
(12) Mental health aspect of reproductive health care.

The law provides for the following among other things:

1. Midwives for skilled birth attendance

2. Emergency obstetric care
3. Hospital-based family planning
4. Contraceptives as essential medicines
5. Reproductive health education
6. Employers’ responsibilities
7. Capability building of community-based volunteer workers

MAIN REPORT
Law Content
Section 1. Title
Section 2. Declaration of Policy
Section 3. Guiding Principles for Implementation.
Section 4. Definition of terms
Section 5. Hiring of Skilled Health Professionals for Maternal Health Care and Skilled Birth
Attendance.
Sec. 7. Access to Family Planning
Sec. 8. Maternal Death Review and Fetal Infant Death Review
Sec. 9. The Philippine National Drug Formulary System and Family Planning Supplies
Sec. 10. Procurement and Distribution of Family Planning Supplies
Section 11. Integration of Responsible Parenthood and Family Planning Component in Anti-
Poverty Programs.
Section 12. PhilHealth Benefits for Serious and Life Threatening Reproductive Health
Conditions.
Section 13. Mobile Health Care Service.
Section 14. Age and Development-Appropriate Reproductive Health Education.
Section 15. Certificate of Compliance.
Section 16. Capacity Building of Brgy. Health Workers
Section 17. Pro Bono Services for Indigent Women
Section 18. Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs for PWDs
Section 19. Duties and Responsibilities
Section 20. Public Awareness
Section 21. Reporting Requirements
Section 22. Congressional Oversight Committee on Reproductive Health Act
Section 23. Prohibited Acts.
Section 26. Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).
Section 27. Interpretation Clause.
Section 28. Separability Clause.
Section 29. Repealing Clause.
Section 30. Effectivity.

Major Provisions:
Section 3. Guiding Principles for Implementation.
 ➢ The right to make free and informed decisions shall not be coerced and must be
guaranteed by the State.
➢ Respect for protection and fulfillment of reproductive health and rights. Effective and
quality reproductive health care services must be given
➢ Provision of reproductive health care services and supplies in promoting health especially
of women, the poor, and the marginalized. Promotion of gender equality and women
empowerment.
➢ Provision of information and access, without bias, to all methods of family planning,
including both natural and modern methods
➢ Allocation of resources to all, especially the poor. Provision of RH care information and
supplies particularly to poor beneficiaries.
➢ Promotion and respect to individual’s preferences and choice of family planning methods
and enabling individuals to have the desired number of children.
➢ Active participation of different organizations to RH plans and programs
➢ Provision of post-abortive complications treatment to all women in need.
Section 4. Definition of terms:
➢ Abortifacient refers to any drug or device that induces abortion or the destruction of a
fetus inside the mother's womb or the prevention of the fertilized ovum to reach and be
implanted
➢ Adolescent refers to young people between the ages of ten (10) to nineteen (19) years.
➢ Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEMONC) - lifesaving services for
emergency maternal and newborn conditions complications
➢ Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEMONC) - lifesaving
services for emergency maternal and newborn conditions/complications as in BEMONC
plus the provision of surgical delivery (caesarian section) and blood bank services, and
other highly specialized obstetric interventions.
➢ Gender equality - the principle of equality between women and men
➢ Gender equity - policies, instruments, programs and actions that address the
disadvantaged position of women in society by providing preferential treatment and
affirmative action.
➢ Male responsibility - the involvement, commitment, accountability and responsibility of
males in all areas of sexual health and reproductive health
➢ Maternal health - the health of a woman of reproductive age (including pregnancy,
childbirth and the postpartum period).
➢ Natural family planning - a variety of methods used to plan or prevent pregnancy.
➢ Reproductive Health (RH) - the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being
and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the
reproductive system and to its functions and processes.
➢ Reproductive health care - the access to a full range of methods, facilities, services and
supplies that contribute to reproductive health and well-being by addressing reproductive
health-related problems.
➢ Reproductive health rights - the rights of individuals and couples, to decide freely and
responsibly whether or not to have children (the number, spacing and timing of their
children); to make other decisions concerning reproduction, free of discrimination,
coercion and violence; to have the information and means to do so; and to attain the
highest standard of sexual health and reproductive health: Provided, however, that
reproductive health rights do not include abortion, and access to abortifacients.
➢ Reproductive health and sexuality education - a lifelong learning process of providing
and acquiring complete, accurate and relevant age- and development appropriate
information and education on reproductive health and sexuality through life skills
education and other approaches.
➢ Responsible parenthood - the will and ability of a parent to respond to the needs and
aspirations of the family and children.
➢ Sexual health - a state of physical, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality.
➢ Skilled birth attendance - childbirth managed by a skilled health professional.
➢ Skilled health professional - a midwife, doctor or nurse, who has been educated and
trained in the skills needed to manage normal and complicated pregnancies & childbirth.
➢ Sustainable human development - bringing people, particularly the poor and vulnerable,
to the center of development process.
➢ Elements of Reproductive Health Care:
1) Family planning information and service
2) Maternal, infant and child health and nutrition
3) Proscription of abortion and management of abortion complications
4) Adolescent and youth reproductive health guidance and counseling
5) Prevention, treatment and management of reproductive tract infections (RTI), HIV
and AIDS and other sexually transmittable infections (STI)
6) Elimination of violence against women and children and other forms of sexual and
gender-based violence
 7) Education and counseling on sexuality and reproductive health
8) Treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers and other gynecological conditions
and disorders
9) Male responsibility and involvement and men's reproductive health;
10) Prevention, treatment and management of infertility and sexual dysfunction
11) Reproductive health education for the adolescents
12) Mental health aspect of reproductive health care
Section 5. Hiring of Skilled Health Professionals for Maternal Health Care and Skilled
Birth Attendance.
➢ Adequate number of nurses, midwives and other skilled health professionals to achieve
an ideal skilled health professional-to-patient ratio
➢ People in geographically isolated or highly populated and depressed areas shall be
provided the same level of access to health care
Sec. 7. Access to Family Planning
➢ All accredited public health facilities should provide a full range of modern family
planning methods, which shall also include medical consultations, supplies and necessary
and reasonable procedure for poor and marginalized couples having infertility issues who
desire to have children
➢ No person shall be denied information and access to family planning services, whether
natural or artificial
Sec. 10. Procurement and Distribution of Family Planning Supplies
➢ The DOH shall procure, distribute to LGUs and monitor the usage of family planning
supplies for the whole country.
➢ The supply and budget allotments shall be based on the current levels and projections of
the ff:
- number of women of reproductive age and couples who want to space or limit
their children;
- Contraceptive prevalence rate, by type of method used; and
- Cost of Family Panning supplies.
Section 11. Integration of Responsible Parenthood and Family Planning Component in
Anti-Poverty Programs.
➢ the DOH shall implement programs prioritizing full access of poor and marginalized
women.
Section 14. Age and Development-Appropriate Reproductive Health Education.
➢ The State shall provide age- and –development-appropriate reproductive health
education to adolescents which shall be taught by adequately trained teachers.
➢ DepEd shall formulate a curriculum which shall be used by public schools and may be
adopted by private schools.

Sec. 19. Duties and Responsibilities

➢ DOH is the leading agency in implementation of the act and must fully implement the
RH care program.
➢ Ensuring that access to reproductive goods are affordable, accessible, non-abortifacient,
legal, medically safe and of good quality.
➢ DOH will partner with PHIC and NGOs in order to further implement the RH program.
➢ Contraceptive use shall be in line with the strict guidelines from the FDA
➢ Private corporations shall exercise prudence in advertising their reproductive health
products/services taking into consideration its influence on children and the youth.
➢
Section 23. Prohibited Acts. – The following acts are prohibited:
(a) Any health care service provider, whether public or private, who shall:
1. Withhold information or restrict the dissemination thereof, and/or intentionally provide
incorrect information
2. Refuse to perform legal and medically-safe reproductive health procedures
3. Refuse to extend quality health care services and information
(b) Any public officer prohibits or restricts the delivery of legal and medically-safe reproductive
health care services.
(c) Any employer who shall suggest, require, unduly influence or cause any applicant for
employment or an employee to submit himself/herself to sterilization, use any modern methods
of family planning, or not use such methods as a condition for employment, continued
employment, promotion or the provision of employment benefits.
(d) Any person who shall falsify a Certificate of Compliance as required in Section 15 of this Act
(e) Any pharmaceutical company, whether domestic or multinational, or its agents or
distributors, which directly or indirectly colludes with government officials in the
distribution, procurement and/or sale by the national government and LGUs of modern
family planning supplies, products and devices.