Friday, November 7, 2008

I Support The Reproductive Health Bill

I am quoting this (since it reflects my exact sentiments) with permission from Carlos Celdran, who created the group on Facebook:

I am sick and tired of hearing that more that 50% of all pregnancies in the Philippines are unwanted.

I am appalled by the fact that 1 out of 4 of these unwanted pregnancies result in an illegal abortion with complications that end up in the deaths of mothers and their babies

I am tired of the Catholic Church of the Philippines getting involved in affairs of the Philippine state.

I am a believer that contraception is NOT abortion.

Put the Bishops in their place. Show congress that there is truth to the survey that 90% of Filipinos (Catholic) want access to ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROL METHODS.

PASS THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL NOW.

Sign the petition here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/rhan2008/petition.html

For more information, please contact Carlos Celdran at:

Facebook: I SUPPORT THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL Group
Email: celdrantours@hotmail.com
1991 M.H. del Pilar St.,
Malate, Manila.
Tel. (0929) 909-2021

2 Comments:

Ipe Espinosa of Bacolod City said...

Here are some of the potential consequences of the passage into law of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill (HB O5043) which have dawned upon me; to wit:

1.0 BIG BUSINESS, BIGGER MONEY. If RH Bill passes into law, condom suppliers may earn from the Philippine government (which will be mandated to distribute free condoms to 4.9 million youth aged 15-27), PhP 2.548 billion every year. (Or 4.9 million youth times 1 sex act per week times 52 weeks per year times condom usage of 1 piece per sex act times supplier’s price of P10 per piece of condom.) The assumption of a youth engaging in sex at the average of once a week, I am afraid, is in order and conservative. It will be unthinkable for a young student to obey the reminder of his RH teacher or older relatives that abstinence is the most effective birth control method when that young student is aware, the government is duty-bound to provide him or her with free condom for his or her sexual cravings anytime, anywhere. Condom supply is therefore a big business if RH Bill passes into law. Nevertheless, what is bigger money is when government canvassers, signatories of purchase orders, receivers of condom deliveries, as well as check payment signatories and releasers may connive with condom suppliers to price the condom at P 100 per piece instead of P 10. The over price of P 90 per piece of condom will be distributed among the involved government officials. Therefore, due to the passage of the RH Bill, there is an opportunity for a PhP 25.48 billion condom scam to happen.

2.0 BOARS AND GILTS. These 4.9 million youth who are recipients of the government’s free supply of condoms may naturally crave for sex like animals (considering the additional enticement from the immodest mass media and the internet pornography). The young male may act like boar while the young female behaves like gilt that is in heat. This promiscuity or multiple sexual relationships, is probably just a take off point. The Law of Diminishing Extra Satisfaction (as adopted from the psychological and economic law of diminishing marginal utility) that governs pure human and animal endeavors including sexual relations will be fully operational. In other words, if sex will be a preoccupation of the Filipino youth, then the satisfaction that a young male derives having sex with female partner/s, will decrease or wane eventually. He then ventures to partner sexually with his fellow male/s to seek new level of satisfaction. He may push further by engaging in bisexual activities. But most likely he will end up as a pure homosexual. A young female may also follow the same path as she craves for sex and sexual satisfactions. She may graduate as a pure lesbian. But this scenario will not be glaring overnight. It will take a generation – ten years span. This may then translate to the need of a new advocacy – to support the passing into law of the bill on same-sex marriages and divorce in the country.

3.0 POPULATION REDUCTION. The ultimate aim of RH Bill, I understand, is achieving economic prosperity (particularly for the poor) however through population reduction approach. In case the RH Bill is passed, its success will be measured therefore by, among others, whether its respective population reduction target (PRT) is attained. And the critical factor in attaining PRT is the effective distribution and use of condom of the 4.9 million Filipino youth in particular. Effective means here, making a condom available for free, on demand of the youth, either male or female, anywhere, anytime. As mentioned above, this will cost the Philippine government, PhP 2.548 billion every year. If the government will have limited or doesn’t have that amount of taxpayers’ money (for condom purchase and distribution) then the full attainment of the PRT will be jeopardized. Thus RH Law may prove to be ineffective to reduce population in the country. If this is the case, other population reduction measures or Bills will be therefore sought. So there will be a future need to support for the passage into law of Pro-abortion Bills as well as of Pro-euthanasia Bills.

So then, to all the RH Bill advocates, if your support for the passage into law of RH Bill (which may lead to additional opportunity for corruptions in the Philippine government, to transformation of the Filipino youth as homosexuals and lesbians, to eventual murder of unborn babies and to future mercy-killing of senior citizens, etc.) makes your Mama proud of you, then go full speed ahead of your RH Bill advocacy. Otherwise, please resign as a RH Bill supporter and lobby harder for our legislators to vote against RH Bill.

The Gravelcat said...

Thank you for your informed comment, Ipe.

This blog is personal in nature, so I post what I believe in. People's decisions are ultimately their own. I publish your comment because I believe in balance, but I also blogged about my full support for the Reproductive Health Bill because I believe in that very balance.

While your point may be mostly economic in nature, I disagree with your sweeping generalization about this bill turning youth into homosexuals and lesbians and murderers. I have always been heterosexual, pro-women's rights, pro-gay, I am a practicing Christian, and I believe in providing full education and options against unwanted pregnancies and population explosion. Of course, one of these options is abstinence.

There is a serious lack of values education in our country. It may be taught in school, but there is no after-school support. If parents do not give a good example, children will not follow them. Part of this issue is biological, the other part is social. A woman can say no, but if a man thinks whatever he says goes, how much choice does she have, really? Where is the love? I want EVERYONE to have a choice. Women, men, gays. You can say it's a pipe dream, but I see it happening in my lifetime.

My church does not consider contraception as abortion or murder. My church has married ministers, male AND female, who also have families and are perfectly qualified to provide loving counsel to ALL members of our congregation regardless of civil status or sexual orientation. My church appreciates the gay members of its congregation, because the God we believe in is a loving God who loves the different, the meek, the downtrodden, as well as the general population. You can say Protestants are a minority, but at least in my community we talk the talk and walk the walk. Which gives me full confidence in my beliefs, whether or not the RH Bill passes.

I believe that Church and State should be separate.

And yes, Ipe, my mother and my father, my teachers and friends are proud of me, and also support the RH Bill.

If you have additional comments, please go ahead and blog about them on your own site. Judgments or arguments about who is holier or who is more politically correct belong in a forum, where people can interact more fully. I wish you a peaceful campaign.

In the meantime, I continue to pray for my own sisters across the country who continue to die in childbirth, or have more children than they can feed/educate without help from their church or government or partners, who have no other means of improving their lot through education because they have spent most of their lives having one child after another without having a choice in the matter. I continue to pray for my gay brothers and sisters who struggle to find love and acceptance. For those who are at risk. For future children who may be unwanted and abused.

To other readers, if you put your money where your mouth is, I'm cool with that.