Text of the provision
Art. 259. Abortion practiced by a physician or midwife and dispensing of abortives. - The penalties provided in Article 256 shall be imposed in its maximum period, respectively, upon any physician or midwife who, taking advantage of their scientific knowledge or skill, shall cause an abortion or assist in causing the same. Any pharmacist who, without the proper prescription from a physician shall dispense any abortive shall suffer arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000).
Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, Act No. 3815, as amended. Reproduced in full from the official enactment and verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings.
What this article means
A physician or midwife who, using their scientific knowledge or skill, causes an abortion or assists in one gets the penalties in Article 256 in the maximum period. A pharmacist who dispenses an abortive without a proper prescription suffers arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000).
Questions about this provision
- Can a pharmacist be charged for dispensing an abortive without a prescription?
- Is a doctor or midwife treated more harshly than anyone else for causing an abortion?
Related provisions
- Article 256 — Intentional Abortion.
- Article 260 — Responsibility Of Duellists.
Penalty amounts. The text above is the article as amended by Republic Act No. 10951 (2017), which revised the property values and fines throughout this Code. Older reproductions of the Revised Penal Code still print the 1930 amounts — for theft and estafa they show 12,000 and 22,000 pesos where the current figures run to millions. Check which version any source you rely on is giving you.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.