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Aborted fetus found in college campus in North Cotabato


KIDAPAWAN CITY — An aborted infant was found within the premises of the Cotabato Foundation College for Science and Technology (CFCST) in Arakan, North Cotabato. The eight-month old aborted infant was found in a grassy lot at the back of the Agriculture building of the campus on Tuesday. Jenalyn Nim, a municipal social worker, said the infant died of massive loss of blood. Nim said the school management identified the mother of the infant after conducting an investigation among their female students. During the investigation, the mother of the aborted infant, a first year college student, reportedly claimed that she herself performed the abortion and left the child to die for fear of being rejected or disowned by her family. Nim said the mother delivered the baby in the dormitory before dawn on Tuesday. She then reportedly left the baby at the back of the Agriculture building which was near their dorm. The baby, covered with cacao leaves and left on the muddy ground, was found dead by some college students. Insp. Rodolfo de Gutierrez, chief of the Arakan Police, said the school management is contemplating on filing charges against their student. “It is because the crime was committed inside the school compound. There was also a crime committed against a very innocent child," a staff of the school told De Gutierrez. Charges of infanticide, the intentional killing of an infant before or after birth, are being considered against the mother who is undergoing treatment at the Arakan Valley District Hospital due to severe bleeding. Alleged high incidence of abortion Early this month, reproductive health and women's rights advocates urged Congress to pass a law allowing "safe and legal abortion," citing a report that described a “human rights crisis" of maternal deaths, injuries, and illnesses arising from unsafe abortions in the Philippines. The report “Forsaken Lives: The Harmful Impact of the Philippine Criminal Abortion Ban" released by the New-York-based Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) on Monday estimates that more than half a million Filipino women induce abortions every year. Of these, around 90,000 seek treatment for complications, while around 1,000 die. However, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) rejected the proposal. Responding to the CRR study, CBCP legal counsel Josephine Imbong said, “Kung maraming drug addicts, gawin na lang nating legalang drug addiction? (If there are many drug addicts, does that mean we should make drug use legal?" She also expressed skepticism about the report’s findings about the incidence of unsafe abortion. A Catholic Church official also said that excommunication awaits Catholics who support or engage in abortion, even if it becomes partially legalized in the Philippines. Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop and Canon Law expert Oscar Cruz said abortion is considered a mortal sin and Catholics who take part or support abortions will be penalized with excommunication. Excommunication is a form of religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word implies "putting someone out of communion." Even the supporters of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill in the House of Representatives are wary about enacting a law allowing abortion. In a text message to GMANews.TV earlier this month, Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, one of the authors of the RH bill, said she will have to read the proposal first and the context of the definition of "safe and legal abortion." She said if abortion is for medical purposes or medically indicated for the survival of the mother with the fetus having no chances of survival, it is alright. "But if it is abortion by convenience on the part of the mother who had unwanted or unplanned pregnancy, then it is not a reason to legalize abortion. We have to protect the life of the unborn," Garin explained. –VVP, GMANews.TV
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