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Young women show 'overwhelming' acceptance of pregnancy: study

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Rowegie Abanto, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/02/17/20180509-mothers-day-10-jc.jpg"/><figcaption>&quot;Jessy&quot;, 16, cares for her baby inside their home in a permanent housing tenement in Bgy. Smokey Mountain, Tondo, Manila, May 9, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA (UPDATED) — A new study suggested that there was an &quot;overwhelming acceptance&quot; of pregnancy among young Filipino women who had experienced it.The qualitative study by Oxfam Pilipinas interviewed 39 women aged 15 to 24 from low-income communities in Metro Manila, the Cordilleras, Central Luzon, Davao, Bicol, and the Visayas. &quot;There was an overwhelming acceptance of pregnancy among young women who had experienced it,&quot; according to the <a href="https://oi-files-cng-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/philippines.oxfam.org/s3fs-public/file_attachments/Saying-Yes-to-Whose-Pleasures-FINAL.pdf">study</a> conducted last year. &quot;The responses ranged from having little option but to continue the pregnancy, to a sense of moral obligation or acceptance of a blessing or divine gift, to a clear desire to start their own family at what is generally perceived by society as an ‘early’ age,&quot; it added. All research participants also agreed that &quot;motherhood is a woman’s most important role in society,&quot; said the study. Researchers said some participants also considered pregnancy as a &quot;blessing or divine gift.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/08/21/pregnancies-among-10-14-minors-rising-social-support-needed-popcom">Pregnancies among 10-14 minors rising, social support needed: POPCOM</a></li></ul>For them, &quot;pregnancy is a blessing because it was something they did not ask for, and not easily accessible to other women, yet was &#x27;given&#x27; to them,&quot; the researchers wrote.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Oxfam Pilipinas/Handout" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/09/07/20220907-oxfam-pilipinas.jpg"/><figcaption>Oxfam Pilipinas has released its new study on pregnancy. Oxfam Pilipinas/Handout</figcaption></figure></div>Another factor for the pregnancy acceptance was the lack of abortion clinics. <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/multimedia/slideshow/05/10/20/unintended-consequences-of-ecq-unplanned-and-unwanted-pregnancies">Abortion</a> is still illegal in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, although <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/multimedia/slideshow/05/10/20/unintended-consequences-of-ecq-unplanned-and-unwanted-pregnancies">unsafe methods thrive</a> and <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/21/18/nearly-half-of-abortions-worldwide-are-unsafe-putting-thousands-at-risk-study">endanger</a> the lives of women. A <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/17/21/sws-6-in-10-pinoys-believe-teen-pregnancy-is-womens-most-important-problem">Social Weather Stations survey</a> conducted last year showed that more than half of Filipinos believed that teen pregnancy was the most important problem of women.One of the participants in the Oxfam study admitted that she had tried abortifacients sold on the black market when she had her first pregnancy at 14. &quot;When the attempt failed, she accepted the pregnancy, also as, &#x27;Nandiyan na,&#x27;&quot; said the study. Pregnancy also became acceptable to some young women after their partners and families signified a commitment to supporting them in raising their child, the study found.A 16-year-old participant told the researchers in Filipino, &quot;I used to tell my boyfriend that I would get an abortion if he got me pregnant.&quot;&quot;But I decided not to because many supported my pregnancy. My boyfriend said he was going to be responsible. I decided to keep it,&quot; she continued.The researchers added that while sexual initiation could lead to pregnancies, teenagers&#x27; acceptance of pregnancies is distinct from the situation that led to their sexual initiation.&quot;The impression that teenagers are irrational and unknowing is simply wrong,&quot; they said.&quot;Individual sexual agency and the acceptability of pregnancy are linked to teenagers’ embodiment, their keen awareness of bodily sensations, and physical and emotional desires for intimacy, connection, and safety, for themselves and the people they care about, including their children,&quot; researchers added. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/02/17/21/popcom-experts-press-for-strong-programs-vs-teenage-pregnancy-in-philippines">Popcom, experts press for strong programs vs teenage pregnancy in Philippines</a></li></ul>But the study also warned that young women &quot;may be at risk of coercion and abuse from older or more mature partners.&quot;&quot;Without a clear and comprehensive vocabulary for their pleasures and their needs, adolescent girls and young women are unable to express consent and enforce their refusal,&quot; the study said. &quot;In taking an unexpected pregnancy to term, and in raising children, they limit their social or economic opportunities, while being expected to be good mothers who will put the well-being of their children above anything else,&quot; it added. <div>WOMEN&#x27;S SEXUAL HEALTH</div>For Nathalie Africa-Verceles of the UP Center for Women&#x27;s and Gender Studies, teenage pregnancy remains a problem because of society&#x27;s &quot;persistently puritanical views&quot; on sex.&quot;We refuse to acknowledge that adolescents have sexual rights, and insist that they should not be engaging in sex,&quot; she said at a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OxfamPilipinas/videos/799991104531382">webinar</a> on Tuesday. &quot;[But] the reality is that they are engaging in sex, and the lack of access to quality sexual and reproductive health services will not hinder or stop them.&quot;With that said, Africa-Verceles believes that teenage girls should have a right to sexual and reproductive health and rights information services, saying it will protect women not only from early pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections but also from unsafe abortions.Meantime, Graciella Moises, founder of youth organization The Graciella Collective, called for the proper and immediate implementation of comprehensive sex education.&quot;We usually overlook pleasure, that we fail to realize that we’re also overlooking our rights—our right to safety, to comfort, to desire. Our right to bodily autonomy. Our right to sexual agency. Our right to satisfaction, and perhaps even intimacy and self-affirmation,&quot; Moises said.&quot;When we take notice of women’s pleasure, we acknowledge the fact that their comfort is also important---their consent crucial, their agency an active key player in the intercourse,&quot; she added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/17/20/at-least-40-filipinos-under-age-14-give-birth-in-philippines-annually-popcom">At least 40 Filipinos under age 14 give birth in Philippines weekly: POPCOM</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/01/28/22/popcom-phs-teen-pregnancies-dropped-in-2020-lowest-since-2003">Teen pregnancies in Philippines down by 13% in 2020</a></li></ul><div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2218660" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

A new study suggested that there was an 'overwhelming acceptance' of pregnancy among young Filipino women who had experienced it.

Young women show 'overwhelming' acceptance of pregnancy: study

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Young women show 'overwhelming' acceptance of pregnancy: study

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 07, 2022 08:29 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 08, 2022 09:23 PM PHT

Read More:

teenage pregnancy

Oxfam Pilipinas

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reproductive health

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