Reproductive Health

HERE are excerpts from the cover story by Jack Goldstone of the January-February issue of Foreign Affairs, the world’s most respected journal on international relations.

FOR a century now, some analysts of mankind’s situation have been warning against the overpopulation myth.

MANILA, Philippines – Ninety-two percent of Metro Manila residents reject the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill pending in the House of Representatives, according to a survey conducted last month.

NINETY-two percent of Metro Manila residents have rejected the controversial Reproductive Health bill pending in the House of Representatives, former Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza said Friday.

MANILA, Philippines – The principal proponent of the reproductive health (RH) bill in the House of Representatives vowed yesterday to block the renewed Charter change (Cha-cha) initiative unless the RH bill is passed.

Of the many predictions made concerning the new year, probably one of the most sobering has experts saying that the Philippine population will reach 94 million in 2010. The reckoning was made based on an estimated increase of two million new births during the period, at a growth rate of roughly 2 percent annually.

MANILA, Philippines – With some two million Filipino babies born annually, the country’s population will grow to 94 million this year, an official of the Commission on Population (PopCom) said yesterday.

Nine out of 10 babies 6 months old and below are dying in the Philippines because they have not been breastfed by their mothers, a United Nations official said on Friday.

ADMINISTRATION standard-bearer Gilberto Teodoro and his wife, Tarlac Rep. Monica Louise Prieto-Teodoro, have withdrawn support for the reproductive health bill, saying it does not address the problem of poverty.

Global Networking CALIFORNIA, United States—Senator Noynoy Aquino leads in all the presidential polls that have been taken in the Philippines in the last month, receiving more preferential votes than all his opponents combined.

LONDON – The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the UN Population Fund said Wednesday.

US State Secretary Hillary Clinton has undoubtedly charmed the Filipinos during her two-day whirlwind visit. Like a true diplomat, she ably traipsed her way through delicate and highly sensitive matters concerning Filipino-American relationship by tactfully emphasizing that we are “partners” in finding solutions to political, socio-economic and cultural problems.

MANILA, Philippines – Aware of opposition to artificial contraception from groups including the Catholic Church, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday her government would leave it up to the Philippines to decide if it would accept Washington’s offer of assistance in promoting planned parenthood and reproductive rights.

CEBU, Philippines – Two Cebu congressmen have been very vocal about their opposition to the proposed Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008, saying they will continue to lobby against the bill in the succeeding sessions of the lower house.

“FRANKLY, MY DEAR. I DON’T GIVE A damn.” These words from Rhett to Scarlet in the film classic “Gone With The Wind” fittingly summarizes the attitude of most males to the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

Pat Cuilan, Benguet: The RH bill is among the worthy measures that can regulate a population that’s growing faster than the economy. Ruel Bautista, Laguna: The RH Bill is against the Catholic Church’s doctrine. I’ll never be in favor of it.

MANILA, Philippines – Voicing “serious” concern over inadequate reproductive health services and information, low rate of contraceptive use and difficulties in access to artificial methods that contribute to teen pregnancies and high maternal death, a United Nations panel urged the government to pass the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

The valiant efforts of the champion of the Reproductive Health bill, Rep. Edsel Lagman, seems to have fallen on barren ground at the House of Representatives. With two weeks prior to recess, the bill seems to have been de-prioritized and shelved — virtually a cold bill.

Last week, I had dinner with fellow Reproductive Health (RH) activists Carlos Celdran, Beth Angsioco, and Ryan Tani and got around to talking about our national hero, Jose “Pepe” Rizal.

But none seems to consider maternal health as priority Five presidential aspirants on Tuesday declared their position on highly sensitive issues such as birth control and abortion—with most of them favoring state funding for the former and unconditional opposition to the latter—but they hardly impressed reproductive health specialists.

While they are against abortion, at least four contenders for president in the 2010 elections are in favor of making safe contraceptives accessible to the public in order to help the country achieve the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs. The Catholic Church, which strongly opposes the use of contraceptives to curb population growth, has warned…

MANILA, Philippines—A group pushing for the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill on Tuesday called on presidential aspirants for the 2010 election to keep their commitment in supporting a reproductive health program amid a strong lobby from the influential Catholic church.

I write this during breaks in the sessions of the 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights in Beijing. The conference draws together respected experts and advocates and some 1,000 participants as they discuss and listen to views on issues that are too important to relegate to the back burner. These…

Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino visited Cebu yesterday to rally support behind his presidential bid but he also risked courting another misunderstanding with Catholic Church leaders.

CEBU, Philippines – Birth control pills and other forms of artificial hormonal contraception increase the risk of breast cancer among women, the Human Life International – Pilipinas said yesterday.

MANILA – Concerned health groups are hoping to give more condoms and toiletries to victims of tropical storm Ondoy, in an effort to respond to reproductive health (RH) problems in overcrowded evacuation centers.

What do the Jesus is Lord Movement, the Iglesia Ni Cristo, the Office of Muslim Affairs, the Council of Christian Bishops of the Philippines, the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, the Philippines for Jesus Movement, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, the International Bible Society, the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches of the…

These ending words from Rhett to Scarlet in the film classic Gone With the Wind fittingly summarizes the attitude of most males to the Reproductive Health, or RH bill Congress is deliberating on.

CEBU, Philippines – Senator Pia Cayetano yesterday said that 10 or 11 Filipino mothers die daily in the country because of childbirth complications primarily due to lack of information and services by the government.

A PARTY-LIST representative has filed a bill seeking the implementation of a community-based sex education program that will advocate both abstinence and contraception. Rep. Narciso Santiago of the Alliance for Rural Concerns (ARC) said there is a need for a comprehensive sex education program to provide full, complete, and accurate medical information on sexuality, contraception,…