RH bill a deception — Enrile

Senators are slowly coming out in the open expressing their opposition to the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill, one of them even described it as deceitful.

“This bill to me is a deception,” Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday said as he pointed out some questionable thrusts in the measure in the guise of supposed health bill when in fact it’s promoting population control.

For one, the upper chamber leader noted during an interview over at dzBB, is that of the bill supposedly advocating physical well-being of a person by ensuring access to essential medicines which include artificial forms of contraceptives.

“They’re trying to promote this as a health bill and it should discuss sickness, cure and medicines. But what’s the therapeutic value of condom, birth pills,

IUDs, of injectible (pills)? If this is health bill, how come this is the kind of terminology being carried by the bill?” he asked.

The Senate leader issued a challenge to proponents of the measure to justify the need for the government to provide appropriate funding for such kinds of “medicines.”

“I would like to them, can you get me a reputable, medical practitioner in the country (to explain these things)?” he commented.

Enrile, who had already joined floor debates in the Senate on the measure, explained that while the bill does not promote abortion or legalization of abortion, one aspect of the bill touches on the issue of procreation.

“It’s true that there’s no (promotion of) abortion in the bill. But (the authors of the bill) discuss God’s plan for procreation. Procreation refers to production of offspring. The sperm of a man cannot fertilize a sperm of a whale nor a sperm of a whale fertilize that of a woman.

“They’re right in claiming there is no abortion (advocated in the bill) but it’s like saying we are going to become like God and stop the procreation.

“They would not really admit it but the real purpose of this (bill) is to control the population of the country. That is what they’re pursuing in the guise of a health bill,” Enrile stressed.

The Senate leader emphasized the need to debate the issue lengthily, even discuss historical background as to how this came about, for the people to be enlightened where and why it was conceptualized in the first place.

“The people ought to know if there’s anomaly, corruption. This bill will have a great impact in our lives later on and if we fail to scrutinize every detail, we might regret it later on. It’s not being discussed openly, so it’s either they don’t really understand the bill or the information to the public regarding it being controlled,” he said.

Sen. Ralph Recto, an administration ally, admitted being against the bill being pushed by Malacañang before Congress.

He expressed strong dissent over the fact that the government, under this bill, will attempt to help the poor by “providing them condoms.”

Under the bill, it ensures access to reproductive health care and to make these resources available.

“We agree, we who are anti-RH, that no one should die due to childbirth. But it is also not correct to say that the best way to help the poor is to give them condoms. There are many ways to help the poor,” Recto said.

“Distributing condoms is not a silver bullet,” he added.

Also, Recto objected to the idea of exposing the youth to sex education, saying it’s only promoting promiscuity among the young.

“That is not right. That was not done to me by my parents. How much do they intend to spend for this bill? Thirty billion pesos? Is that right? Let’s look at the bigger picture,” he said.

One of the proponents of the measure in the Senate, for her part, said the RH Bill will not lead to the legalization of abortion, nor serve as a “back road” for legalized abortion services, adding this was an unfounded fear among the measure’s critics that should be clarified.

“The intent of the RH Bill is to uphold the Constitution and in no way tolerate or allow abortion to come in through the back road or behind the scene,” Sen. Pia Cayetano in a statement said.

One provision that has been questioned by RH Bill opponents is Section 3, the measure’s ‘Guiding Principles for Implementation,’ particularly paragraphs (i) and (j), which read:

“Section 3, (i) While this Act does not amend the penal law on abortion, the government shall ensure that all women needing care for post-abortion complications shall be treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and compassionate manner. –Angie M. Rosales, Daily Tribune