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The Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008 also known as the RH Bill seeks to provide universal access to information and services to both natural and modern family planning methods, which are medically safe and legally permissible.

The premise of the RH Bill is informed choice and the freedom to decide on a method of family planning based on information that is comprehensive, accurate, and respectful of one’s personal convictions and religious beliefs.

Various survey results consistently show that 9 out of 10 Filipinos favor the passage of a reproductive health and population development policy.

Honorary Janette L. Garin, M.D. is Deputy Majority Leader and Representative of the 1st District of Iloilo. A staunch advocate of women’s rights and reproductive health, Representative Garin highlights the important provisions of the bill, dispels misconceptions, and reasons why now, more than ever, we need to have the RH Bill passed.

Why is the RH Bill relevant to every Filipina and not just those who do not have ready access to health care?

The RH Bill is not just for the welfare of those women who have no access to affordable reproductive health services. A number of local surveys reveal that one of the major impediments to family planning is the lack of accurate information and education among women and couples. Though a considerable number of women have access to and can readily afford reproductive health and family planning services and commodities, they still have difficulty making informed decisions and successfully planning the number of children that they want because they either lack or are misinformed on reproductive health and family planning.

The RH Bill seeks to break such barriers by ensuring that women and couples are provided adequate information. Among others, the proposed policy mandates a nationwide information and education program to develop a sexuality-education curriculum for young Filipinos. It will also require couples applying for marriage licenses to undergo a family planning seminar.

Please address some of the allegations about the RH Bill, namely:

1. That it promotes abortion.

The RH bill does not promote abortion. In fact, one of the primary intentions of the bill is to prevent abortions by providing information and services to women, couples and young people to avoid unwanted pregnancies. Majority of women who undergo abortion in the Filipinas are already married and have children. This reflects the failure of many women and couples to plan their families or space their pregnancies.

In addition, the provision on the MANAGEMENT OF POST-ABORTION COMPLICATIONS does not mean that the bill espouses abortion. There are cases wherein women experience complications from abortion, but are not admitted by hospitals when it uncovers that they attempted abortions. The provision merely guarantees that the right of women to health services is protected even if they commit illegal abortions. No woman should be denied their right to life.

2. That it advocates sex education in schools and thus, encourages promiscuity.

Providing sexuality education does not mean that the passage of the RH bill would lead to promiscuity among the youth. With the technology available to us today, the youth is constantly bombarded with inaccurate information about sex from mass media. As a result, more and more of the youth engage in early sexual initiations and other risky sexual behaviors. This leads to the rise of teenage pregnancies. There is a serious and urgent need to address this issue and we can only start doing so if we learn to accept that depriving the youth of correct information on reproductive health will not stop them from being promiscuous.

The RH bill advocates for responsible reproductive health and sexuality education that will inculcate values, but at the same time provide the youth with correct information on reproductive health. Doing so will empower the youth to make informed and responsible decisions in the future.

3. That it is anti-life and goes against Catholic beliefs.

The RH bill is not anti-life. We even say that it is pro-quality of life because it seeks to prevent deaths of mothers, abortion and unwanted pregnancies. In addition, the bill also aims to slow down population growth rate in the country to enable the government to allocate more resources for the delivery of services to the people.

I believe that it is not going against the beliefs of the Catholics, because no part of this RH Bill says that couples and women will be coerced to use contraceptives. Filipino couples will still be free to plan their families based on their religious convictions when the bill is passed. The RH Bill merely promotes responsible parenthood by widening choices and providing more information for them to come up with informed decisions.

We respect the stand of the Catholic Church on the issue of Reproductive Health. However, it is not fair to deny Filipino couples their right to decide freely and responsibly on the number of their children, and the right of women to be safe from deaths due to pregnancy-related complications and child birth.

There are some men who still tend to be indifferent about reproductive health, leaving all the child-bearing responsibilities to the women, how can we get more men to support the RH Bill?

To effect change in the culture, we must aim for behavior change communication (BCC) interventions targeting the male population. The lack of male participation in family planning in the Philippines is rooted in the “macho” culture in the Philippines. Most men refuse to undergo vasectomy because they fear that they would not be able to perform in bed anymore if they do so. Some do not care about family planning at all which leaves the women assuming the responsibility of family planning. In some cases, men’s disregard for family planning results to women giving birth to more children than their actual desired number.

The men should be made to understand that family planning is a shared responsibility. More importantly, the men should learn more about pregnancy; know the danger signs that they should take note of during pregnancy and the effects of closely-spaced births on a woman’s body.

You can make your voice heard help the passage of the RH Bill:

• Write to your district representatives and to some leaders of Congress. Ask them to support the RH Bill and work for its immediate enactment.
• Go to: www.petitiononline.com/rhan2008/petition.html and sign the online for the immediate passage of the Reproductive Health Bill into law.