A long - awaited Philippine family planning law to provide free hormonal contraceptives is finally going ahead, health officials said on Thursday , ending a two - year impasse in which the Supreme Court demanded proof that they did not cause abortions. The announcement marked a victory over the influential Catholic church which counts most of the Philippine population as followers and opposes all forms of artificial contraception.Health Secretary Fracisco Duque said 51 types of contraceptive pills , coils and Injectables could now be distributed to the public after the Food Drug Administration certified they did not cause abortions , defeating a petition filed by a Catholic group. The reproductive health law granting access to contraceptives was passed in 2012 despite strong Church opposition .
However abortion remains illegal. President Rodrigo Duterte , a Fierce critic of the Catholic church who was elected last year , has promised to deliver the free contraceptives to women as part of his health push . Despite Church lobbying to cut funding for contraceptives , Mr . Duque said the government had budgeted 4.2 billion pesos for implementation of the law this year.