Reproductive Health

MANILA, Philippines — The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday welcomed the pope’s statement on the use of condoms as an acceptable way to halt the spread of AIDS.

LAST NOV. 20, a group of about 20 people calling itself Filipino Freethinkers went to the Manila Cathedral where a “Prayer Service for Discernment with Holy Mass—Point of Discernment: RH Bill” was being held. They went there, they said, to express support for the bill. The church bulletin board said, “Everyone is cordially invited.”

AURORA GOV TO RH ALLIES: BALER, Aurora—Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, one of the original supporters of the reproductive health (RH) bill when she served as Aurora representative, said advocates, instead of arguing with Church leaders, should lobby for ordinances in local governments to promote RH rights and family planning.

MANILA, Philippines—It could be in the way the questions are phrased. A retired bishop Wednesday floated the idea of the Church initiating an extensive survey at the diocesan level to validate whether majority of Filipinos favored the reproductive health (RH) bill.

VATICAN CITY – In a seismic shift on one of the most profound – and profoundly contentious – Roman Catholic teachings, the Vatican said Tuesday that condoms are the lesser of two evils when used to curb the spread of AIDS, even if their use prevents a pregnancy.

MANILA, Philippines – Amid continuing debate over the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 104 new cases last month.

MANILA, Philippines—Iloilo Representative Janette Garin said the statement of Pope Benedict XVI on condom use was laudible, but wanting. Why is condom use acceptable among male prostitutes and not among couples who need it as much, asked Garin, a medical doctor and author of one of the reproductive health bills pending in the House of…

MANILA, Philippines—Catholic priests said they would use the pulpit to step up their campaign against the proposed Reproductive Health (RH) bill as its proponents rallied their own local and international troops to urge its passage.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has opened the door to the previously taboo subject of condoms as a way to fight HIV, saying male prostitutes who use condoms may be beginning to act responsibly. It’s a stunning comment for a pontiff who has blamed condoms for making the AIDS crisis worse.

A MEETING with the Catholic bishops has not changed President Benigno Aquino III’s decision to make artificial birth control available to the poor, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Friday.

MANILA, Philippines—Like Somalia, the Philippines may become a failed state in 40 years if the reproductive health (RH) bill is not passed by Congress and the country’s rapid population growth is unchecked, an American population expert said Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines – A US-based population and health expert yesterday warned that the Philippines could be as impoverished as Somalia because of its ballooning population.

REPRESENTATIVES FROM the government and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) met Friday to lay down the framework for dialogues on reproductive health.

The increasingly (again) heated discussion around the use of modern methods of contraception is brought about by the renewed efforts to pass, on one hand, and block, on the other, the passage of the Reproductive Health bill in Congress.  

MANILA, Philippines – A plebiscite on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill would reveal the number of Filipinos who support the Catholic Church’s position against the passage of the legislation, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said yesterday.

BAGAC, Bataan, Philippines  – A medical expert appealed to the Department of Health (DOH) to implement programs that would arrest the increasing maternal deaths in the country.

The controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill is losing its authors even as its proponents say that it is being endorsed by more than 100 lawmakers.

RH DEBATE MANILA, Philippines—Former US President Bill Clinton sees more babies as an advantage for the Philippines, whose exploding population is projected to reach 94 million by the end of the year.

MANILA, Philippines—With the debate turning into name-calling, a lawmaker has posed this challenge to the Church: Why not let the people decide the fate of the reproductive health (RH) bill in a plebiscite?

The Senate appears inclined to put the Reproductive Health (RH) bill on the back burner until heated debates on it boil over as leaders of the chamber said yesterday the bill is not among the priority measures in the Senate.

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine population will continue to grow in the next 50 years even if each couple limits children to two, an official of the Commission on Population (Popcom) said Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is asking the City Council of Manila to revoke an executive order that declared total commitment and support to only natural family planning methods.

MANILA, Philippines—Nobody ends up in the slammer for opposing the reproductive health (RH) bill. House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman Sunday twitted Catholic Church leaders for claiming that bishops, priests and laity would risk jail time if only to stop the controversial measure.

Church leaders anticipate a head-on collision with pro-choice President Aquino and supporters in Congress of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill with Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal comparing the bishops’ stand against the bill to the position they took during the People Power revolt in 1986 that led to the toppling of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

The “talking points and proposals” advanced by the Loyola School of Theology and the John J Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues supposedly for the use of the proponents and opponents of the RH bill in formulating an amended version that will serve the best interest of the Filipinos may be useful in the…

There is an urban legend about a known society figure who had more than 10 children but remained as beautiful as a young girl even when she was already in her late 30s and well into her early 40s. The society figure’s beauty secret was supposedly simple: She never breastfeed any of her children, believing…

First, let me clear the decks. I am in favor of giving the poor the same freedom of choice for family planning as the rich. The lack of money should not deprive them of that equality. As far as I know, USAID in the past provided funds for the poor to enable them to choose…

MANILA, Philippines – Five big business groups yesterday urged the government to lead in family planning activities as an effective strategy to reduce poverty.

LET ME get back to religion in the RH bills because it is mainly religion which is causing much of the disagreement. There are two clauses in the Constitution dealing with religion: the non-establishment clause and the free exercise clause. The non-establishment clause is a command which says that the state may not choose any…

MANILA, Philippines—Let me make it quite clear: I am pro-life, pro-poor, pro-women. And therefore, like most Filipinos (average of 82 percent according to a Pulse Asia Survey, but ranging from 76 percent to 91 percent across all geographic areas and socio-economic classes), I am in favor of the government providing family planning information and services…