I have tried putting off this post for quite a long time now. There has been a lot of talk about the RH bill, discussions ranging from the benign to the inflammatory, making the issue complicated to handle and also, hopelessly, infused with a lot of contrasting decisions which, in some cases, often make no sense.
So let's go back to the original text, shall we?
I reviewed the proposed bill (through this link)) and found it...okay. It has some nice prose to it and one is bound to appreciate what this bill can do for the betterment of this country once it has been implemented or formally enacted as law.
My opinion? The RH Bill is a good thing...if we remove just one "minor" detail from it. One portion of the bill is receiving a lot of flak (other than what "kind" of sex education is to be taught), and justifiably so, and it is this one portion which is creating this whole mad ruckus out of what seems to be a reasonable bill:
SEC. 10. Contraceptives as Essential Medicines. – Hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine devices, injectables and other allied reproductive health products and supplies shall be considered under the category of essential medicines and supplies which shall form part of the National Drug Formulary and the same shall be included in the regular purchase of essential medicines and supplies of all national and lord hospitals and other government health units.
Now, I say, what the heck is this? I, for one, have no problems of teaching young adults both the natural and the artificial contraceptive methods (provided that they be taught also the proper sexual values that one must possess. See my previous post). But to go so far as to label contraceptives as essential medicines? There are a lot of implications involved in this statement and these have not been lost in discussions since.
Definitely, there is something sinister going on behind the veneer. Some prefer to talk about a conspiracy, a collusion between the Congress, foreign aid programs, and, of course, aid money, over the distribution of contraceptive devices using this bill as a means.
But the labeling of contraceptives as essential medicines also threatens to impose a mindset, a set of values, which the Catholic Church, and I personally, must oppose. And I think you know why.
So, let me reiterate, the RH bill is a good thing. But it has to be revised. Or else.
Plus: the Jesuits' take on the bill.
So let's go back to the original text, shall we?
I reviewed the proposed bill (through this link)) and found it...okay. It has some nice prose to it and one is bound to appreciate what this bill can do for the betterment of this country once it has been implemented or formally enacted as law.
My opinion? The RH Bill is a good thing...if we remove just one "minor" detail from it. One portion of the bill is receiving a lot of flak (other than what "kind" of sex education is to be taught), and justifiably so, and it is this one portion which is creating this whole mad ruckus out of what seems to be a reasonable bill:
SEC. 10. Contraceptives as Essential Medicines. – Hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine devices, injectables and other allied reproductive health products and supplies shall be considered under the category of essential medicines and supplies which shall form part of the National Drug Formulary and the same shall be included in the regular purchase of essential medicines and supplies of all national and lord hospitals and other government health units.
Now, I say, what the heck is this? I, for one, have no problems of teaching young adults both the natural and the artificial contraceptive methods (provided that they be taught also the proper sexual values that one must possess. See my previous post). But to go so far as to label contraceptives as essential medicines? There are a lot of implications involved in this statement and these have not been lost in discussions since.
Definitely, there is something sinister going on behind the veneer. Some prefer to talk about a conspiracy, a collusion between the Congress, foreign aid programs, and, of course, aid money, over the distribution of contraceptive devices using this bill as a means.
But the labeling of contraceptives as essential medicines also threatens to impose a mindset, a set of values, which the Catholic Church, and I personally, must oppose. And I think you know why.
So, let me reiterate, the RH bill is a good thing. But it has to be revised. Or else.
Plus: the Jesuits' take on the bill.
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