Adolescent pregnancies drop to 17-year-low in Philippines

15 year old Rose Ann (right) and 17 year old Ros Jane (left) are seen with their babies in the neighborhood where they live in Manila, Philippines. The Philippines has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the region, with approximately 200,000 Filipino teens getting pregnant each year. 1 in 10 Filipino girls between 15-19 is already a mother, or pregnant. Abortion is still illegal in the country, and minors need to have parental consent for contraceptives. The age of consent is 12, one of the lowest globally.

MANILA, Feb 21 (dpa): Adolescent pregnancies in the Philippines dropped 13% in 2020, the lowest in 17 years, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s population commission has announced.

The number of births among mothers aged 10 to 19 years old went down by 23,855 in 2020, from the previous year, according to the Commission on Population and Development.