RH BILL ANYONE?

courtesy of the sun newspaper..

Filipinos in HK debate pros and cons of RH Bill

It is an issue that has long been debated in the Philippines. Should the so-called Reproductive Health Bill, or simply RH bill, which advocates the use of contraceptives among its more controversial provisions, be passed?The bill became as good as dead when the Philippine legislature failed to pass it during the nine-year tenure of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who appeared anxious not to ruffle the feathers of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) which was staunchly against it. But moves are now afoot to revive the measure, especially in the wake of President Benigno S. Aquino III's public pronouncement that he wants Filipinos to be educated on the various methods of family planning and be free to choose which method they prefer. His uncompromising stance provoked a leading CBCP to threaten him with excommunication, a move that only served to draw more attention to the bill, and heightened the polarization of views over its controversial provisions. As the debate among Filipinos raged, two words became bywords: abortion and excommunication. But do these words really reflect the essence of the RH Bill? According to Fr. Emil Lim, SVD, head of the Filipino Diocese in Hong Kong, the Catholic Church is not against the bill per se. "It is the inclusion of the use of artificial contraception into this bill that the Catholic Church objects to," he said. He also said that the Catholic Church is not against family planning, but prescribes only the natural method. "We encourage couples to plan their families according to their means and in a natural way. The Church is against artificial means of contraception because it goes against how God designed the law of nature with regards to the procreative function of sex and the transmission of life. Artificial contraception breaks the natural connection between love and its potential for life. If you want to make love, then you accept also the possibility of life. Artificial contraception is often used to prevent Life from Love. And as is often the case in a contraceptive culture, it degrades the sex and the dignity of persons." With regard to sex and pregnancy, he said that the most apt explanation would be the Tagalog adage "Kung ayaw mo, wag mo." He said, "Is it not more responsible to teach abstinence to our children rather than handing them a condom?" He also clarified why the use of artificial contraceptives is like abortion. "Some contraceptive medicines like the birth control pill are actually abortifacient; they prevent a fertilized egg from being implanted in the womb. What is flashed out is a very small embryo, but a very small human being nonetheless," said Fr. Lim. He reiterated that there are some parts of the bill that they like. "The promotion of breastfeeding, health for women, mothers, and the young, or the elimination of violence against women are good," he said. But he said the bill also "calls for government funded and sponsored universal access to all types of contraceptive devices, and mandatory sex education to our school children," which he said the church does not agree with. Lastly, he said the issue of excommunication has been blown out of proportion. "It is not the whole CBCP en banc who talks about excommunication. I think, it will boil down to individual bishops and priests whether they would excommunicate their faithful or not," Lim stated. According to him, there are two reasons for a member to be excommunicated, abortion and hurting the Pope. But according to Gabriela-Hongkong vice chairperson Rowena de la Cruz, she supports the RH Bill because it is "pro women." She went on to quote a part of the bill that Gabriela Rep Luz Ilagan filed: "The social inequality between the ruling and the exploited classes coupled with government's corruption and its neglect to deliver essential social services is the core basis of poverty, and not overpopulation." She also said that the Church must understand that it the right of every woman to choose how many children she should have. "Hindi tamang diktahan ang isang tao kung gagamit ng pildoras o hindi dahil siya naman ang bubuhay sa bata," she said. (It is not right to tell a person not to use pills because she bears the sole responsibility of looking after her own kid). She also said that using condom or pills should not be equated with abortion. "Prevention ang mga iyon at hindi ka pa buntis kaya wala pang pinapatay na sanggol," she said. (That is just for prevention because you are not pregnant yet, so you are not killing any child). Another Filipino migrant worker echoed the view that contraception should never be equated with abortion because while one prevents pregnancy, the other is meant to flush out something "that is already there." She went on to ask, "Can someone tell me who will feed the people who get hungry due to overpopulation?" Another leader said that if she gets excommunicated for using birth control pills, so be it. "Ako naman ang bubuhay ng anak ko," (It is I who will raise my own children anyway). She said that she takes the pill every time she goes home for a vacation because she does not want to get pregnant. "Alangan namang i-risk ko iyon dahil lang sa kagustuhan ng simbahan?" (Should I risk that getting pregnant -- just to please the Church?) She reckons that if the Church did go ahead with expelling all Catholics who take contraceptives, there will not be a lot of them left because "sigurado, karamihan, gumagamit ng contraceptives" (I am sure, most of them are using contraceptives). But for Pat Gonzales, an El Shaddai member, supporting the RH Bill will never be acceptable. "Hindi ko man alam ang buong nilalaman ng RH Bill, sinusunod ko ang stand ng simbahan tungkol sa bagay na iyan. Kaya ayaw ko sa paggamit ng condom at pills," she said. (Even if I am not totally aware of what the RH Bill is about, I support the stand of the Church regarding this. That is why I am against the use of condoms and pills). Another Filipina worker says she is also opposed to the bill, but for a different reason. "I am not a religious person. I don't like the way the church meddles with government affairs but I also don't believe that condoms and pills would miraculously solve our problems. Dati naman ng may pills ah, bakit hanggang ngayon madami pa ring tao sa atin?" (The pills have been around for a long time, but how come our population keeps growing?) She said the only solution to the problem of overpopulation is discipline among couples. "Wala na ngang maipakain, anak pa rin ng anak tapos isisisi sa gobyerno o sa simbahan, tama ba iyon?" (Many can barely feed themselves, and yet they keep having children. Then they blame the government and the Church is that right?) As the controversy continues, legislators are poised to again debate the bill in the upcoming 15thCongress. Filipinos can only hope that whatever solution they could come up with would really benefit most, if not all people, and will be implemented.