Cardinal Vidal junks dialogs with Noy on RH bill

A cold way appears to have frozen relations between the local Catholic Church leaders and the Aquino administration, as a cardinal yesterday said it is useless to hold dialogs with President Aquino and his officials, since a stand for the use of artificial contraceptives has already been taken by the chief executive on the Reproductive Health (RH) measure.

Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, in a radio interview said the dialogs between the Church and the Aquino government on the controversial reproductive health bill should no longer be pushed.

Over Church-run Radio Veritas, Vidal said there is no longer any reason to continue with the dialog after Aquino had already made clear his stand that, while he is against abortion, he nevertheless is leaving the decision to couples on the use of contraceptives.

“If it has already such a decision, what is the dialog for? I

don’t see any point for the dialog. When you are into a dialog, there should be no stand yet, but with the stand that they (Aquino) have already made, there’s no longer any need for it,” Vidal said.

The cardinal said the President’s statements are “contradictory”, noting that the Church stands by its belief that abortion is a result of the use of contraceptives.

“It is a contradiction because the Church believes that many of the provision of RH bill are leading to abortion because these are abortifacients. Then he (Aquino) says ‘he is not in favor (of abortion) but he is in favor with the means (with which to have abortions). That is a contradiction,” he said.

The RH bill in the House of Congress however clearly states that it bans abortions, but for the Church, the use of contraceptives leads to abortions, if not being abortion itself.

The Church believes that the soul is formed upon conception ,which is when the sperm meets the egg and fertizes it.

However, the Church has been unable to explain how the use of contraceptives, which it terms as abortifactions, is a form of abortion, since contraceptives—as least many of these brands, prevent the sperm from meeting the egg, and thus prevents conception.

The condom for instance, prevents conception and cannot be categorized as an abortifacient.

The Catholic Church said it will continue to fight against the passage of RH bill now being debated in Congress.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, for his part. expressed confidence his colleagues in the Senate will pass the controversial RH bill.

”Personally, I think it (RH bill) will pass in the Senate…it’s difficult to quantify because I have not attended sessions for a long time but if we talk about the chances, I think it will be approved,” Lacson said during Monday’s Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel.

The senator said he personally supports the passage of the RH bill which aims to assist families, especially in the slum areas, in planning properly their respective families.

”The very simple explanation why we should arrest the population explosion is that poverty contributes a lot to difficulties that most of our countrymen are suffering from right now,” Lacson explained.

The senator believes that the disinformation about the RH bill is making it difficult for the lawmakers to decide whether or not to support the measure.

”The right information should be presented to the public so that they will appreciate the importance of the RH bill,” Lacson stressed.

”It is the obligation and responsibility of the state to inform the public more about the reproductive health,” he added.

Lacson noted that the support of the chief executive for the RH bill will play a crucial role. “I think it will have a good chance of passing considering no less than the President is an advocate.”

Sen. Pia Cayetano, chairman of the Senate committee on youth, women and family relations, has already started conducting public hearings on the RH measure.

Meanwhile, a Catholic bishop yesterday also said that there is no need to excommunicate the President for pushing the passage of the controversial RH bill.

In a radio interview over Church-run Radio Veritas, Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez said it is up to the President if he is a true Catholic to receive the Sacrament of communion. With PNA