Anti-RH bill group gains more allies

CONTRARY to the claims of reproductive health (RH) advocates that it is only the Catholic Church that is against the bill, thousands of pro-life advocates joined the interfaith rally Sunday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City to show their support for life.

Eric Manalang, chairman of Prolife Philippines, in an interview said that the event only proves that the call against the RH bill is not only coming from the Catholic Church as what other want the public to believe.

“This goes to show that this is not just a Catholic issue because the RH bill is not just a simple law,” said Manalang, one of the organizers of the event.

Besides members of the Catholic Church, Manalang said that other religious groups like the Evangelical Church, Baptists and even the Muslims had joined their call against the bill which they believed is against the teachings of the Church.

“We just want to make sure that our presence is felt and for the lawmakers to start reflecting their stance on the RH bill,” he said.

Advocates of the RH bill were disappointment over President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s decision to withdraw it from his list of priority bills to be submitted to Congress.

According to the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP), President Aquino’s withdrawal of support to the RH bill “totally ignores” the rights and welfare of women, particularly in the poor sector.

“Because of his [President Aquino] inaction, threats of complications related with pregnancy and childbirth will continue,” said Elizabeth Angsioco, DSWP’s national chairman.

According to Angsioco, there are many women who have died or almost died because of the lack of access to family planning and reproductive health education and services.

Earlier, President Aquino said that he will not change his position on family planning since he believes that it is the government’s responsibility to provide couples with choices on reproductive health.

The Church has spearheaded the opposition to the RH bill that calls for contraceptives to be provided in government hospitals and sex education to be taught in public schools.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said that the provision to provide access to artificial contraceptives is very dangerous because a lot of these have serious side effects.

The Church also opposed to incorporating sex education in the curriculum of
schools insisting that this has been proven to cause problems in several countries that have tried this.

Manalang, however, admitted that the interfaith rally is not to convince the lawmakers not to pass the bill, because they believe that its passage is inevitable.

They just wanted to unify all groups and individuals that are against the bill to show that it is not only the Catholic Church that only against the law. –JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA REPORTER, Manila Times

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