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PRO-LIFE CAUCUS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WILL CONTINUE TO DEFEND DIGNITY OF LIFE AND FAMILY
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July 17, 2008
The issue on reproductive health has been in the headlines these past few days and some of our colleagues are asserting that it is a key factor for our country’s development, food security and for the protection of the rights of women and children. These proponents of this bill are painting a doom’s day scenario and unnecessarily scaring the public that poverty will exacerbate if we fail to pass this. They even go to the extent of attacking the Catholic Church for its advocacy on Pro-life and on its teachings on the Dignity of Life and preservation of the Family.
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We would like it known to the people that we members of the Pro-life Caucus of the House of Representatives will continue to fight the Reproductive Health (RH) bill based on rational, constitutional and moral issues. We believe that as legislators and representatives of the people, it is our supreme duty to protect and uphold the interest of the people in accordance with the mandate of the Constitution. It is our sworn duty as legislators to promote the common good, for the benefit of the majority of the people.
True that the RH bill does not explicitly state that it will legalize abortion but the main intent of the bill is to intensify the promotion of the use of contraceptives that are scientifically proven to have an abortifacient effect, which means it prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg or ovum in the womb and will result to the death of a new life.
It is also the purpose of the bill to increase the number or rate of contraceptive users thereby creating a “contraceptive mentality”. A mentality that views pregnancy as a “disease” and that babies are “burdens” not as “God’s gift”. As we all know, there is no fail safe technology or method, if contraception fails and people have this contraceptives mentality, abortion is not far away. Countries that eventually legalized abortion started this very same way. We should learn from that mistake. The mentality that pregnancy is unwanted is the very condition that demands for legal abortion as backup for failed contraception.
The RH bill also provides for post-abortion services or management. In the Philippines, abortion is illegal. By mandating government and health service providers to provide post-abortion services we are saying that it is okay for women to abort and medical personnel will assist you if something goes wrong. Aren’t we in effect encouraging abortion? There are enough laws that are meant to save lifes including those are caused by failed abortion.
While the bill is silent on the crime of abortion, it provides for a draconian measure by penalizing people who have a contrary view on reproductive health. If this bill is passed, a person who espouses and criticizes the RH program will be liable and will be penalized. Where is freedom of belief and expression?
Contrary to what it says that this is “informed choice”. The Pro-life Caucus believes otherwise, this is not informed choice and will not promote the health of the people, particularly of women and children.
The proponents and promoters of reproductive health, the promoters of contraceptives are silent on the adverse effects of these contraceptives. Couples should be informed not only of the alleged benefits but also on the ill side-effects of these drugs and devices to the mother and to the unborn babies. Data shows that there is a high discontinuance rate of contraceptive users, around 20% or one out of five users discontinues using contraceptives. Why? The most common reason cited was health reasons. There are many diseases that directly result from wanton use of contraceptives.
We should protect our people from harmful products and promote health as mandated in our Constitution. Actually we should prevent harmful products, like drugs and devices proliferating in the market.
Another reason why we at Pro-life Caucus are against this bill is because of the mandatory sex education for school children from grade 5 up to 4th year high school. This sex education will rob the parents their primary right and duty to educate their children based on their moral beliefs. It is not proven that teaching secular sex education in schools at an early grade will prevent pre-marital sex and teen pregnancy. There are some researches in the United States that show that early sex education will result to more sexual experimentation and promiscuity of young people.
As a parent, I do not want other people telling my kids to use contraceptives and saying it is okay to have sex even outside of marriage as long as you will not get pregnant and will not get infected.
This infringes on the Constitutional guarantee on freedom of belief and on separation of Church and State. Why is the State encroaching on the moral teachings of a particular religion by making it mandatory for all schools.
As Pro-lifers, we assure the people that we will struggle and persevere in our advocacy to defend Life and Family. We are calling all Filipinos to join us in promoting the dignity of life and preservation of the family by promoting positive moral values among our children and young people.
We strongly believe that a strong family will bring a strong nation and that life should be protected in all stages of its development. We can do this by addressing the root causes of our poverty and enacting and implementing policies and programs that address the economic needs of the people. Let us not blame the number of children as the cause of our problems. People are resources and we are the wealth of our nation.
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