The Facebook black market for abortion

Away from the nooks and crannies of Quiapo—where gleaming compendiums of ginseng, peony, and other palliative plants are sold to pregnant women who wish their problems “solved”—thrives a black market that allegedly purveys abortion pills more openly than an open secret. In the era of social media, people have found a new way to end early pregnancies: in public Facebook groups where self-proclaimed sellers abound.

It was only five years ago when the Reproductive Health (RH) Law was signed by then-President Benigno S. Aquino III, but the implementation has been rocky. It was only last week that a temporary restraining order (TRO) on 51 types of birth control medication was lifted, after they were deemed non-abortifacients by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Back in the day, if people wanted to get an abortion, they had to search for “specialists” who can perform the procedure.

These days, a quick search on Facebook can lead anyone to those specialists, using keywords like “abort-philippines,” “pampalaglag-bata,” “cytotec-pampalaglag,” “buntis-gamot,” “buntis-palaglag,” and hashtags like #abortionPH.

Among the pages that show up when you search the hashtag #abortionPH are the following: �����Ի���.

One assumes that, with the same profile photo and similar graphic styles, and offering the same services, these enterprises are operated by the same people. Both pages also refer to a certain Facebook account maintained by someone who identifies herself as a physician from Cytotec Philippines. Cytotec Pills has had 23 messages as of last week, 74 likes and 75 followers (one assumes, of course, that if one were to participate in illegal activities, one will not leave a trace, such as a Facebook “like”). Pregnancy Abortion Philippines has a smaller following of 10 people, and one five star rating. Both pages are verified by Facebook as “authentic for this business or organization.”

SparkUp visited one among the many sites referring  to this physician , where we found her alleged contact details.  (Note that there are many websites, selling the same product, using the same doctor, using different cellphone numbers.) We texted her about whether or not it would be safe to take Misoprotol if you’re four months pregnant, we only got the following sales details as a reply at around two o’clock in the morning:

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The price for a Cytotec Kit ranges from ₱3,000 to ₱4,000 and would include a set of pills that you would need to ingest and a set of instructions. The text message also reads that you can “add ₱1,000 for painless abortion.”

There’s also this  Facebook profile which only has two posts with her contact details, and photos of a pill called Misoprostol Cytotec.

Related search tags to #abortion PH include cytotec abortion pills, abortion pills for sale philippines, abortion pills for sale, cytotec for sale and cytotec for sale philippines. And you will find that some of those search terms will link back, again, to one Dr. Jessica Hernandez.

Note that while the drug Misoprostol (brand name: Cytotec) can be used to treat stomach ulcers, its abortifacient effects may run counter to both the Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (R.A. 10354) and the Revised Penal Code, with its provisions on abortion.

SparkUp spoke to Dr. Junice Melgar of Likhaan Center for Women’s Health, Inc., a non-government organization that provides health services and reproductive rights education to women from marginalized communities. She coordinates with the Department of Health (DoH) and the Department of Education (DepED) on the implementation of the RH law and the development of sex education modules for senior high school students. She said that someone from the DoH told her about these websites, which led her to investigate for herself.

“We have investigated these sites if they were genuine or fake, because I was thinking that maybe these sites are fake and just sowing misinformation,” Dr. Melgar said. “And I saw pictures of people selling Misoprostol. I don’t know how they do it because we have very strict regulations on Misoprostol… it’s not registered by the FDA.”

“They’re probably profiteering from it,” Dr. Melgar said regarding the Misoprostol trade on social media sites. “I think they know that women are desperate and they’re capitalizing on that need.”

The FDA, formerly known as the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), issued in 2002 BFAD Advisory No. 02-02 warning against the unregistered drug Misprostol (Cytotec). “The manufacture, importation, exportation, sale, offering for sale, distribution, or transfer of any drug or device which is not registered with the Bureau is considered a violation of the Food, Drugs, Devices and Cosmetics Act,” the advisory read.

The drug is certainly not free from controversy. Misoprostol is listed in the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Model List of Essential Medicines in 2015, with the following caveat: “where permitted under natitonal law and where culturally acceptable.” While it is legal in some European Union countries and some states in the United States, Misoprostol is still a black market drug in countries like Brazil. There has been some  from women’s rights groups in the Philippines to lift the ban on Misoprostol. Still, on September 4 this year the Bureau of Customs apprehended at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport two individuals who were  in ₱ 24.4 million worth of abortifacient drugs, which icludes Misoprostol.

“We know how women resort to abortion,” Dr. Melgar admitted. “Our main concern is, are these products safe? Are they truly medicines that can do good or are these medicines that can have harmful side‑effects. It’s hard to tell because they’re engaging in black market trade.”

No matter what your stance is on abortion and Misoprostol, being able to find these drugs for sale on social media shows just how much more discussions we need to have about reproductive health.