Palace: No turning back on reproductive health

THE Palace will not back down in its campaign to have the reproductive health bill passed despite the “strong moral objections” from Catholic Church leaders, an official said Wednesday.

“We have already mentioned to them that at a certain point, we will have to decide, and now we have already made a decision,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

The incoming president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Jose Palma, on Wednesday urged Catholics to “strongly fight the bill” after the Palace included it among the priority measures it wants Congress to pass.

Lacierda said the consolidated reproductive health bill that was presented to Congress during Tuesday’s Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council meeting already reflected the concerns raised by the bishops.

“We respect the decision of Archbishop Palma,” Lacierda said.

“[But] as far as the government is concerned, we have an obligation to make sure choices and family size are left to families to decide. We have a public obligation to make all choices available.”

The Palace has pushed for 10 amendments to the bill, which will now be called the responsible parenthood, reproductive health and population and development bill.

President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday said the Palace had asked Congress to amend a provision requiring all hospitals to carry a full range of modern artificial family planning methods.

That, he said, would address the concerns of Catholic-run hospitals.

The President said he also demanded funding for natural family planning methods, which was not clearly defined in the consolidated reproductive health bill, as well as for age-appropriate sex education to start at Grade 5.

Palma said he trusted the lawmakers, “especially from Cebu,” to defend “our stand for life, for God and of course for the sanctity of marriage.

“We believe that this is a long battle, and we trust that with people of goodwill and with God blessing our efforts, the sanctity of human life and marriage would prevail.”

The Church rejects all forms of family planning except “natural” methods and abstinence.

On Wednesday, the authors of the reproductive health bill accepted the President’s amendments to the measure.

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, the principal author of House Bill 4244, said it was President Aquino who defended the bill while letting his Cabinet members defend the 12 other bills listed as priorities during the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council meeting on Tuesday.

Lagman said the bill, which seeks to establish a national policy on responsible parenthood, reproductive health and population development, was certified as urgent, making it more likely to pass in Congress.

He said the President’s amendments did not water down the bill.

“The President himself rejected the insinuation that Malacañang watered down the RH bill as he explained that the principal provisions remain intact like freedom of informed choice, promotion of all medically safe, legal and effective methods of contraception, sexuality and reproductive health education among the young and adequate government funding,” Lagman said.

In fact, he said, the Office of the President no longer drafted its own version of a responsible parenthood bill and instead endorsed the consolidated House bill.

The President’s proposal to delete the provision on the “ideal family size of two children” had already been adopted, Lagman said.

The other amendments suggested by the Palace were the following:

• deletion of the phrase “sexual orientation” in the provision against discrimination found in the “Declaration of Policy” since non-discrimination based on sex is already encompassing

• financing to promote natural methods of family planning, considering that all forms of family planning that are medically safe, legal and effective are to be promoted, with the modification that the funds will be appropriated for moder -natural family planning methods consistent with the primary condition of effectiveness

• the requirement for accredited health facilities to provide a full range of modern family planning methods will be made optional to hospitals owned and operated by a religious group to respect religious beliefs

• mandatory age-appropriate reproductive health and sexual education will start from Grade 6 instead of Grade 5

• the teaching of values formation is modified by the phrase “with due regard to religious affiliation” in deference to religious beliefs

• the qualification that the liable public official who prohibits or restricts the delivery of legal and medically safe reproductive health care services will be one who is “charged with duty to implement the provisions of this Act.” –Joyce Pangco Pañares and Christine F. Herrera, Manila Standard Today