IT IS said and it is a fact that our country does not lack on laws that protect our rights and interests as individuals and citizens of a State. It even seems we have so many; with some laws covering trivial matters and some having little or no significant contribution at all to our development. Still, there is a need for new legislation as our laws need to keep up with the evolving times and heed the demands of a changing society.The RH Bill, as the proposed legislation is popularly known, is in consonance with what the Constitution espouses – protecting the life of the mother and the unborn from conception, development of the family, the right to health, and liberty of choice. The Bill intends to serve not only the welfare of women, but also of men as part of the family. It also seeks to strengthen society by providing aid in family planning to ensure sustainable development.
A “touchy" issue, however, threatens to tear the Bill apart with the Catholic Church branding the Bill as “Anti-Life” because it promotes the use of contraceptives as a family-planning method. The Church sees the Bill as a population-control mechanism that goes against its “Pro-Life” doctrine.
The Church tends to focus on its main enemy – the contraceptives – and lose sight of the overall picture that offers a solution to a huge yet often ignored "illness" that plague most Filipino families, especially the poor. The Bill does not impose the use of contraceptives but rather gives information and guidance on the options available so that one can discern properly what control method to use. We cannot speak well of reproductive health, responsible parenthood, and population development if we turn our blind side to some already existing things that could have an impact on these concerns.
There is nothing in the Bill that is immoral either. Morality has always been the basis of our laws. Morality here is not the standards of any particular religion, but what is naturally right and proper. The proliferation of contraceptives in the market is an indication that they are not perceived by the public as a natural evil that society must get rid of.
It is also impossible to think that the Bill would endanger or kill our population. The Bill is neither about creating nor destroying life. It is about “health” that sustains life – health of the women who carry life in their wombs; health of the families that provide children with a better life in the future; and health of a nation that ensures greater opportunities for all in every aspect of life. And in this regard, we can trust our lawmakers to represent our best interest.
To put a clamp on what could be the most sensible law to be ever crafted by our legislators in years would move us further back in time. We need a change of perspective from our old views. Our world constantly evolves and we cannot afford to stay stuck in our belief, when everything that surrounds us tells otherwise. Our laws must cope, and so should we.
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Image taken from: http://www.chikkadora.com/the-rh-bill-battle-escalates/
