Unreported World: Philippines: City Of Guilt

In the next 30 years the population of the Philippines is set to double to 170 million. Contraceptives are frowned on and abortion is illegal but as this week's Unreported World reveals, every year more than half a million Filipina women are so desperate they undergo harrowing illegal abortions, despite the fact that at least 80,000 end up seriously ill in hospital. Reporter Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's journey begins in Metro Manila, where 35% of its 12 million inhabitants live in slums. Not many of them have jobs and many women are desperate to avoid large families which they can't support. The Filipino Catholic church holds rallies against abortion and it is backed by wealthy American pro-life groups such as Operation Outcry. The Christian Right in the US is pushing the Bush government into stopping foreign aid to clinics giving contraception advice.