Monday, August 4, 2008

Raging Debates on Philippine Reproductive Health Bill

By Romy Teruel
Sunday Post Columnist

As we have predicted the Reproductive Bill now in the House of Representatives continues to heat up even after Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stated her preference for the natural method of family planning during her State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Tuesday.

 That there is debate on the issue is a good indicator that whatever decision will be made on it will at least have passed all levels of scrutiny. What is important is that whatever decision is arrived at carries with it the best and popular sentiments of the people guided by the intelligent discussions.

 The Catholic Church has stood pat on her stand to oppose the Bill based on her teachings as enunciated in Pope Paul VI's encyclical, "Humanae Vitae." The prayer rally last Tuesday to voice opposition to the Bill attracted a huge number of Boholanos mostly the young.

 Both positions have been defended staunchly.  The Catholic Church's aggressive campaign against the Bill is understandable.  As guardian of morality the church has the obligation and responsibility to act like one.  If it fails in this one, it would have failed in its task and it could be a dangerous precedence for future campaigns where it must involve itself.  

 The question asked by those pushing the Bill is "Must the Church always win even in issues that are clearly secular?"  The supporters of the Bill see it as the right response to the problem of a runaway population that is always being tied to the problem of unrestrained poverty and economic deprivation.  

 Under "Humanae Vitae," the Church spells out why artificial contraception is intrinsically wrong.  Artificial contraception, as against the natural method of self-denial during the ovulation period of the woman, closes off the openness to life which a true Catholic marriage always holds true.  The convenient option that artificial contraception offers negates self-discipline and reduces human beings to mere animals driven by the instinct for immediate self-gratification.

 The sexual act is one of  the great divides between human beings and the ordinary animals and insects.  Ordinary animals and insects do the sexual act to procreate and maintain the species.  That is why they do it only when the female is on heat. Human beings are different.  They do it regardless of the fertility of the female specie.

 Now is the use of artificial contraception to prevent conception or fertilization of the female egg a violation against natural law?  Does one using it diminish his or her nature as human being?  Abortion cannot even be inferred in this because there is no conceived human being to be aborted to speak about.

 It will be different when the artificial contraceptive being used is one that induces abortion of a fertilized egg because then there is already a human being to speak of.  The RH Bill is specific about abortion being illegal.

 The church position says that teaching the children sex education starting from grade five as proposed by the Bill will make them promiscuous.  We need more statistics on this based on scientific studies.

 El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde who is very vocal against the Bill says that the provision ensuring medical care for one who just had an abortion is the fine print or the meaning between the lines that legalizes abortion.  It is difficult to concede that this is true because in one provision it is expressly said that the Bill continues to uphold the illegality of abortion as provided in the Penal Code.

 To avoid further conflict the proponents and authors of the Bill should delete that provision if only to show that it is not hiding anything and as a form of accommodation to the sentiments of those who oppose it.

 No mater the argument that poverty is an economic problem that has nothing to do with population, I maintain that government should have a clear policy on population development that can be harmonized with the culture of the Filipinos.  The RH Bill is not just about artificial contraceptives because the couple is given a menu of choice in accordance to their belief and culture. It is also about the health of the person especially of the woman and her baby; about availability of comprehensive essential obstetric and medical care to pregnant women; about infectious disease and many others.

 Catholics can always adhere to the teachings of the Church.  In giving the couple the freedom to choose from among the methods that are made available for family planning, Catholics can choose the natural method and they will be assisted and encouraged on their choice. I advocate that Catholics follow the natural method. 

 But I don't recommend killing the Bill.  We need not throw the baby with the bathtub, if I were again to use an old cliché.

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