Women and the Reproductive Health Bill

Opponents say...

Women Rights advocates have been clamoring for the passing into law of the Reproductive Health Act and Population and Development Act of 2010 or the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill). The bill aims to ensure complete access to different ways of family planning and maternal care.

The bill, however, has run into controversy because oppositions to the bill say that it will institutionalize the use of birth control pills that pose hazard to women’s health, and condoms that promotes promiscuity.

Proponents say...

I believe that the opponents of the bill have valid reasons for their position. However, I acknowledge the obligation of the State to protect and care for its people regardless of religious beliefs. The government wants its people especially the women to be conscious of their own health and become aware of the scientific methods that they can use to protect themselves and their family from disease. I’ve heard about women who suffer from STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) not because they have been promiscuous but because their husbands have transferred the infection to them. Poor women!

The RH Bill is highly divisive but I believe that if people will understand its intention, they could arrive at a good understanding. It is just sad that the issue has become a battle between good and evil; good being the Catholic Church and evil, which is the State.

I hope that when the RH Bill passes into law, the Catholic Church would not launch a destructive campaign against the State. Instead, I hope they would educate its members about reproductive health and just enforce its influence against the law on its members. The health of the mother and of the child is of paramount importance. In that regard, I believe that women have the right to choose how they should protect themselves.

Images Above Courtesy Of:

Proponents: http://www.philippinenewsdaily.com/2011/02/1941/strike-2-for-rh-bill-in-philippines.html

Opponents: http://fvdb.wordpress.com/no-to-rh-bill/