Back in 2015, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on contraceptives due to a case filed by a pro-life group. As a result, the Department of Health (DOH) was prohibited from "procuring, selling, distributing, dispensing, advertising, and promoting" birth control methods such as Implanon and Implanon NXT. Later, the restrictions expanded, also prohibiting the registration and recertification of new contraceptives. Since then, the future of contraceptives in the country has been unknown, causing significant unrest.
To lift the TRO, the Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must submit proof to the court that the contraceptives being protested by the pro-life group are safe and non-abortifacient. The department announced that they will comply.
Months later, in a press conference held today with the Commission on Population (POPCOM) Executive Director, Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III, shared news that hint that the FDA is about to submit what the Court requested.
In his statement, Dr. Juan states, "FDA will declare contraceptives non-abortifacient, which will lift the TRO on RPRH Law." The commission adds in their Facebook post that the FDA is "about to finish its evaluation per Supreme Court decision of 51 contraceptives and will be issuing a resolution anytime soon."
With the TRO in place, the DOH foresaw that most contraceptive pills will be all out by 2018. But with recent developments, this might be prevented. "The lifting of the TRO will allow DOH to start procuring commodities from its 2017 budget," the POPCOM director writes in a press release.
The FDA has yet to issue their own official statement regarding the matter, but many are hopeful that the court finally lifts the ban on contraceptives after two years.
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