For some time now, we've been warned that contraceptives for women may soon be unavailable.
This dilemma started in 2015, when a group called Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines filed a complaint with the Supreme Court (SC). The group alleged that certain contraceptive implants allowed under the RH Law have "abortifacient side effects."
Thus, the SC issued the TRO that prevents the government from procuring, selling, distributing, dispensing, administering, advertising, and promoting implants. The SC ruling also stopped the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from granting pending applications for all reproductive products, including contraceptives.
(It's worth noting that condoms are not covered in the TRO because they are "considered as equipment or devices and not drug products.")
Despite the clamor of RH advocates, the TRO is still being enforced by the SC. Meanwhile, the licenses issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for contraceptives have been expiring one after the other.
With three more certificates of contraceptives for women expiring this May, we're left with only 23 contraceptives on the market.
Based on the data from Commission on Population (POPCOM), CNN Philippines listed the contraceptives that are still available in the market. As of Sunday, May 21, one more certificate expired—that of Cybelle—bringing the number of available contraceptives down to 23.
Here's the list of contraceptives that are still available with their respective expiration dates. We arranged them in alphabetical order. (Note: Unless indicated, all contraceptives are pills.)
Cerazette (injectable) - November 20, 2018
Charlize - May 7, 2018
Depotrust - August 15, 2018
Familia 28F - February 4, 2019
Gracial - June 26, 2017
Gynera - April 30, 2019
Implanon NXT (subdermal implant) - November 19, 2020
Leila - December 13, 2018
Lizelle (injectable) - August 16, 2018
Logynon 21 - November 19, 2018
Meliane - June 3, 2018
Micropil Plus - March 17, 2018
Mirena (IUD) - May 5, 2019
Nicole - July 21, 2018
None (injectable) - June 14, 2017
Nuvaring (vaginal ring) - June 28, 2019
Protec - May 30, 2018
Protec (injectable) - February 22, 2018
Seif - March 3, 2018
Trust Pill - June 14, 2017
Yasmin - October 8, 2017
Yaz - September 29, 2018
Zoely - December 19, 2018
This story originally appeared on Cosmo.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Femalenetwork.com editors.
