Sept 5 (Reuters) - Every year nearly half a million women have abortions in the Philippines despite pregnancy terminations being illegal and taboo. For story click on [nMAN298046].

Here are some facts about abortion in the Philippines:

* Women who terminate their pregnancies risk prosecution and a prison sentence of up to six years. Anyone providing or assisting in the procedure faces a similar sentence as well as the loss of any medical licence.

* Abortion may be obtained legally if it is necessary to save a woman's life.

* In 2000, women in the Philippines were estimated to have had more than 473,000 induced abortions, translating to a rate of 27 abortions per 1,000 women. The average rate in the United States was 20.

* Most women who have abortions in the Philippines are married, Roman Catholic and mothers already with at least three children. The majority terminate their pregnancy because they cannot afford another child.

* Artificial contraceptives are not widely used in the Philippines, a largely Catholic country whose government emphasises natural methods of family planning.

* Over 50 percent of women who have had an abortion were not using any family planning. Of those who were practicing contraception, three-fourths were using natural methods such as rhythm or withdrawal.

* Only 25 percent of women who have an abortion use a surgical procedure. The rest either ingest herbs or drugs, insert catheters in their vaginas, drink alcohol, fast or get a traditional midwife to pound their lower abdomen.

* Two in three women who terminate a pregnancy experience complications such as severe pain and infection. An estimated 800 women per year die from complications.

(Source: Guttmacher Institute)

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