On reproductive health

On another front, the Reproductive Health (RH) bill cannot be dismissed as a mere duplication of existing laws. Rather, its passage would lead to the adoption of a clear-cut and cohesive national policy on reproductive health and responsible parenthood that should guide the programs of the Department of Health (DOH) and local government units (LGUs), Sen. Pia Cayetano stressed at the continuation of plenary debates in the Senate last week on Senate Bill No. 2865, or the proposed “National Reproductive Health Act of 2011.”

Cayetano, one of the bill’s sponsors, refuted Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III’s contention that the RH bill was unnecessary since it was duplicating existing laws. “To say that [the RH Bill] is unnecessary simply because there are other laws that touch on a similar matter . . . [is not] a sufficient reason not to pass this law,” she said.

Sotto said duplicating laws are the Magna Carta of Women (RA 9710), Presidential Decree No. 965, which requires marriage license applicants to receive instructions on family planning and responsible parenthood, and Administrative Order No. 2008-0029 of the DOH, which lays down the agency’s MNCHN (Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health and Nutrition) strategy.

Cayetano clarified that the Magna Carta of Women is a general law, while the RH Bill is a specific law that seeks to enhance certain rights as enshrined in the Magna Carta, particularly on the right of women to health. “The Magna Carta speaks of many rights of women, and only one of which pertains to reproductive health.”

She said “There are laws that address many issues in RH, but none of these laws are specific to reproductive health the way [SBN 2865] it is intended to be.” The Magna Carta of Women covers many issues that affect women, and reproductive health is definitely a part of it. So to that extent, the members [of the 14th Congress] who passed the Magna Carta of Women included reproductive health. But that would not, in any way, prevent or prohibit us [members of the 15th Congress] from now passing an RH measure that is very specific.”

“Without a governing policy on reproductive health, many local government units choose not to make available reproductive health [services] to their constituents,” said Cayetano. For example, Cayetano’s Barangay Ayala Alabang had passed an ordinance prohibiting the sale of contraceptives even to married couples. The public outcry against such an ordinance was, to say the least, ear-splitting. As a result, the Muntinlupa City council overruled the ordinance.

Cayetano welcomed proposed amendments that Sotto may have to help streamline the bill’s provisions. –Domini M. Torrevillas (The Philippine Star)