I
haven't planned on writing something today as I am suffering from a nasty
headache. However, when I checked my notifications, I noticed that a lot of my
connections are busy writing away their thoughts. So I decided to write one
too. Why "No holds Barred?" I noticed that most posts I have read
focused on expressing their thoughts about things. For the time being, I am
inspired to write about the RH Bill or the Reproductive Health Bill. For the
Filipinos out there, I am sure you have heard of this one way or another. It is
a very 'noisy' topic. It was passed by the House of Representatives last
December 2012. Majority of the Filipinos are Roman Catholics. They do not
believe in artificial contraception hence the strong disagreement against the
bill.
The
RH bill is not only targeting contraception. It is a bill enhancing the health
care to be received by mother and infant. However, the bill makes sure that
contraception, fertility control and adequate maternal and infant care is given
to the entire populace. There had been several related bills since President
Marcos, which, in my opinion, were quite effective on a short term basis. Why
short term? To understand this, one has to know and understand that a policy
like this involves a lot of money. It was effective at first until people got
greedy. I need not to elaborate on that. We are not naive and innocent on the
workings of our society.
Why
then are we creating another policy which will just replicate the previous one?
Good question. The thing is, it is not only funded by the Philippine
government. Eighty percent of the funding comes from USAID. USAID has been
funding free contraceptives for the past 36 years (1) but has started to
withdraw support since 2003. I am not privy as to the reason and I am not going
to dwell on it. In addition to the withdrawal of support from USAID, there is
also the commitment to attain the MDGs or the Millennium Development Goals by
2015. As such, the Philippine government faces a challenge to fund its own
contraception program.
The
bill mandates to promote natural and modern family planning methods that are
within the bounds of medical and legal ethics. In other words, the government
is to ensure that the people receive medically safe and effective treatment. As
of 2009, maternal deaths by complication related to pregnancy and child birth is
at 41%. It's a high number. This does not include deaths caused by
hypertension. post-partum hemorrhage etc. The bill ensures that this number
will somehow be reduced. This is just one of the provisions. It also requires
or mandates to provide education classes with regards to family planning and
responsible parenthood. Post abortion counseling also becomes available. I am
not saying that the bill is perfect. Of course, it has its flaws. For one
thing, it would require a large sum of money to implement this properly. At the
moment, the Department of Health is not even receiving the required minimum
percentage of budget allotted by WHO which is 5%. How on earth can the
Philippine Health Care System if they are going take away a large chunk of the
small budget?
As
a medical professional, I agree that mothers should receive the best care they
can get before, during and after pregnancy. Requiring employers to provide
these services is a big help. I have seen a lot of infant deaths due to lack of
pre-natal care. Either, the mother is not aware of the need, she does not have
enough money to go for a check-up, or she does not have enough time (meaning
she has to work in order to save up for the days when she goes on maternity
leave).
As
a Christian, I'm against in any form of immorality. Think of it for one second:
if contraceptive pills and condoms will be made available freely for everyone,
what do you think will happen to the population? As I see it, people will have
the reason to practice sex out of the sanctity of marriage--contraception is
available--so no worries on getting pregnant or having STDs. I am not saying
that we are all that twisted. What I am trying to point out here is that we are
giving people the license to practice immorality legally. It's like
saying:"It's okay to have sex now because contraceptive pills and condoms
are free. You can get one at the store round the corner." We are going to
use tax payers' money here. Not to mention, the money paid by the middle class
people--the working class.
It's
a dilemma isn't it? It's for a good cause which might cause people to do
immoral and unsavory things just to take advantage of the provisions from the
law. Also, it is a temptation for the people in office. As I said, it will
require a large amount of money. How can we be sure that the money will not be
diverted to their own pockets? Most Christian organizations are against the
bill solely because of the corruption part. I have already decided that there
is no other way but to arrive at a compromise. There are still questions to be
clarified, provisions to be simplified but I know that every question will come
to light and I hope that everything will be for the benefit of the people. I
just pray that despite the temptation the money involved this bill presents,
our local and national officials will make the welfare of the general public be
their first and foremost concern and not their pockets.
(1)
philippines.usaid.gov/programs/health/success-stories/ensuring-access-affordable-contraceptives
NOTE: The same post can be seen in http://www.bubblews.com/news/785802-no-holds-barred-my-thoughts-on-the-rh-bill
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