By definition, a living thing is
an organism that possesses or shows the characteristics of life or being alive.
It should have a structure, being made up of a cell or cells, it requires
energy to sustain life and to survive, it has the ability to reproduce, grow,
metabolize, move, respire, respond to a stimuli or adapt to its environment.
I was listening to the news a
couple of nights ago and it is quite irritating… no, actually, it is VERY
irritating to hear legislators argue about the RH Bill (or should I say, RH
Law). Can’t they realize that they are focusing on just ONE aspect of the
entire bill written about Reproductive Health? (That contraceptives are not supposed
to be “openly” available to the masses.) They spent an entire day debating on when
life begins. Even a grade-schooler can answer that as a matter-of-factly!
A sperm cell even without having
been able to integrate itself into an egg cell is by itself a living thing and
vice versa. Period. Nothing to argue on that! Move on!
No one seems to have bothered
reporting and informing the public (in the manner they could understand) of the
provisions stated in this bill. If somebody has, I might not have understood it
properly because from all the reports I’ve heard, the RH Bill seems to be
equated with Abortion. Is that right? I got curious, mostly irritated, so I
took the time to search and read this very controversial piece of paper.
Really??? I mean, really?!?
Let’s discuss one by one. The RH
Bill is about “An act providing for a comprehensive policy on responsible
parenthood. Reproductive health, and population development, and for other
purposes.”
Section 3 of House Bill No. 4244
states the following principles for which the bill is anchored upon:
a.)
Freedom
of Choice
My understanding
is basically, the State respects each individual’s preferences when it comes to
Reproductive Health concerns. The State will NOT force/ coerce any person into doing something against his/her
will.
Therefore, should
someone want to have as much children as she wants, there would be no
discrimination or coercion in doing otherwise. Likewise, if someone wishes to
control the number of members of his/her family, no one should also ask them to
do otherwise.
Okay for the
sake of shutting up possible sarcastic (pilosopo)
comments like “What if someone chooses to abort, the state will also respect
that choice?” let me just remind everyone that the Philippines is governed by
Laws. In article II of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, says, in part, “Section
12. The State recognizes the sanctity of life and shall protect and strengthen
the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect
the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.” This is
criminalized by the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines which remains enacted
in effect today, where articles 256, 258 and 259 mandates imprisonment for the
woman who undergoes the abortion, as well as for any person who assists in the
procedure, even if they be the woman's parents, a physician or midwife. Article
258 further imposes a higher prison term on the woman or her parents if the
abortion is undertaken "in order to conceal [the woman's] dishonor"[i].
Maybe as an
improvement, the legislators who devised this bill must clearly (and literally)
state that Abortion is not advocated or supported in the RH Bill.
b.)
Respect
for, protection and fulfilment of reproductive health and rights seek to
promote the rights and welfare of couples, adult individuals, women and
adolescents.
In reference to
my explanation with the former article, this item, for me just reiterates the
State’s stand on respecting the choice of individuals regarding Reproductive
Health and at the same time protecting these individuals of their (lawful and intelligent)
choices.
c.)
Since
human resource is among the principal assets of the country, maternal health,
safe delivery of healthy children and their full human development and responsible
parenting must be ensured through effective reproductive health care.
I’m not so sure
if currently, LGUs (Local Government Units) support this cause where they educate
the marginalized (who happens to have the highest contribution in the booming
population of the country) of their responsibilities of becoming parents. Let’s
face it, sometimes, these people get pregnant, give birth, get pregnant again
and give birth again, without really thinking about their children’s future.
I’m a parent and
from the moment I first laid eyes on my son, I instantly and instinctively
thought about how I will do everything I can to give him a bright future which
is why most of the time I feel hatred whenever I see little children on the street
without proper clothes to wear, un-bathed, un-cared for, malnourished and
everything that will make any sane mothers’ heart bleed.
Yes, human
resource is a principal asset of a country, therefore it is just right to
provide education like responsible parenting, to those who can’t seem to
understand the importance and value of one’s life. It would be unfair for a
child brought into the world and not pave the way for a bright future for him,
wouldn’t it? We will be creating future delinquents if proper guidance are not
given.
d.)
The
provision of medically safe, legal, accessible, affordable and effective
reproductive health care services and supplies is essential in the promotion of
people’s right to health, especially of the poor and marginalized.
Well, just like
the availability of affordable, sometimes free vaccination at your barangay,
provision of affordable and effective reproductive health care supplies are
just as important.
I have once
heard from an officemate that she is able to get a very affordable birth
control injectable from their barangay, truth is, I have asked her three times
if I could hitch with her because my OBGYN charges Three Thousand Pesos for
this while my officemate’s barangay only charge her Two Hundred and Fifty
Pesos. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t a registered resident of their area so
basically I am prohibited from availing this service from them. If the
government is able to provide to the poor and to the marginalized the same
effective and affordable medication what is stopping them from providing this
to all those who needs them?
Some may have
negative reactions on why some mothers support birth control, I cannot speak on
all mothers’ behalf about this but my perspective is I want to plan my
pregnancy simply because my husband and I want to provide our child the best
of what we can offer. From the milk he drinks down to his education.
My son is now a year and a half years old, in about 2 years he will be enrolled into pre-school, in a couple of more years we need to be able to provide for his elementary, high school and college education. Imagine if we didn’t plan our pregnancy, expenses for education could easily double! Do the math, I have and to tell you honestly, even now that my husband and I works for a multinational company, we wouldn’t be able to support the primary needs of our family if we do not plan.
My son is now a year and a half years old, in about 2 years he will be enrolled into pre-school, in a couple of more years we need to be able to provide for his elementary, high school and college education. Imagine if we didn’t plan our pregnancy, expenses for education could easily double! Do the math, I have and to tell you honestly, even now that my husband and I works for a multinational company, we wouldn’t be able to support the primary needs of our family if we do not plan.
e.)
The
State shall promote, without bias, all effective natural and modern methods of
family planning that are medically safe and legal.
I think this is
very clear. This is why I am so irritated with how the Church handles and reacts
on the submission of the RH Bill.
I got married in
2011, I was 27 years old. Nope, I wasn’t pregnant. I got married because we
wanted to, and because we had the money to do so. So we did. But before we
could exchange our vows, before the Priest could sanctify our marriage, we had
to undergo Family Planning Seminars handled by both the Government and the
Church. My husband and I attended the two day seminar held at the Church where
we were to get married. Guess what? Contrary to their advocacy of being pro-life,
the seminar conducted by ordinary couples, talked about how they “planned”
their family the natural way. Phasing. No modern methods of contraception was
used but they did it the natural way. Natural meaning when it’s not “safe”
husband and wife will not consummate their marriage. Only when the wife is not
ovulating will the husband make love to his wife.
Now tell me, why
is the Church lecturing us on how to do family planning if their preaching is
about reproducing? What is the difference between family planning the “natural”
and “modern” way?
There are a lot more provisions
in the RH Bill that for me doesn’t spell out “murder,” abortion,” and “death of
mankind.”
The RH Bill simply legalizes what
has been and what is actually being practiced today. Do you really think that
any teenager, of legal age or not, could not have any access to pills, condoms,
injectables, etc.? Come on!
You know that popular mini
grocery store with a green and white numerical logo, open for 24 hours a day,
at the corner of every street in your neighborhood? Go ahead! Go inside and
approach the counter, your much hated contraceptive is right there saying
“hello!” for everyone to see! And that famous red and white, Greek god-named
drugstore that sells almost everything sells young ladies over the counter
“beauty” pills for just above Five Hundred Pesos only! Why, oh, why are we
being such hypocrites?!
Even without this Bill,
contraceptives are easily available in the market. Even without this Bill,
parents or people who wanted to become parents can easily approach their OBGYN
for help to either control pregnancy or to become pregnant.
The discussion about “killing” by
using contraception is just one BIG fat lie. Even your teenage kids knows that.
The very fact that you use contraception to AVOID getting pregnant already
means that you are preventing life from happening. Yes, you killed a living
thing, like the sperm cell (by itself) or the egg cell (by itself) but don’t
people do that from time to time? (I’m
going to get a little tactless, but I need to make people understand what I
meant) Like when they masturbate? Or what can these legislators say about
people who has “wet dreams” isn’t that also a “waste” of “life?” Does it mean
that the person who “accidentally” “wasted” “life” when he had a wet dream can
be convicted of murder?
If we will just relax and take
the time to listen, really listen to the objectives of this bill, then we
wouldn’t be wasting our precious time and effort in fighting it because really,
at the end of the day, all it really aspires for is to open the eyes of
Filipino people that we are now changing and to avoid being obsolete, we have
to go along with these changes.
We need education to know what is
good from bad. The bill doesn’t support abortion. If we really understand what
it means, we wouldn’t even think that it promotes death. It simply gives us the
option to think about our actions before consummating it.
Life is the most precious gift from
God. Let us not waste it.
If you are informed and aware of
the implications of your actions it could make a big difference, not just for
you but for your children.
For more information regarding
the RH Bill, read it here.
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