RH Bill

"Population control measures are based on the assumption that human beings are a burden to society and must be controlled or managed rather than cherished and a source of national wealth. Such an understanding violates our conception of the human person as possessing dignity, and is also an impoverished economic and social view. International human rights law recognizes the right of individuals to freely determine the number and spacing of their children; a right which population control or management policies ignores and abuses. Responsible parenthood is an aspiration of individuals, not a mandate controlled by governments and the state.  Population control policies have failed in every instance of implementation over the past thirty years, because they do not recognize the prior and intrinsic freedom and dignity of all persons."

What is RH bill?

The Reproductive Health Bill, are Philippine bill aiming to guarantee universal access to methods and information on contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care. The bills have become the center of a contentious national debate. There are presently two bills with the same goals: house Bill No. 4244 or An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development, and For Other Purposes introduced by Albay 1st district Representative Edcel Lagman, and Senate Bill No. 2378 or An Act Providing For a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population and Development introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.

While there is general agreement about its provisions on maternal and child health, there is great debate on its key proposal that the Philippine government and the private sector will fund and undertake widespread distribution of family planning devices such as condoms, birth control pills (BCPs) and IUDs, as the government continues to disseminate information on their use through all health care centers.

Its advantages

RH DOES …

1 Protect the health & lives of mothers

The WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that complications arise in 15% of pregnancies, serious enough to hospitalize or kill women. From the 2 million plus live births alone, some 300,000 maternal complications occur yearly. This is 7 times the DOH’s annual count for TB, 19 times for heart diseases, and 20 times for malaria in women. As a result, more than 11 women die needlessly each day.

Adequate number of skilled birth attendants and prompt referral to hospitals with emergency obstetric care are proven life-saving solutions to maternal complications. For women who wish to stop childbearing, family planning (FP) is the best preventive measure. All 3 interventions are part of RH.

2 Save babies

Proper birth spacing reduces infant deaths. The WHO says at least 2 years should pass between a birth and the next pregnancy. In our country, the infant mortality rate of those with less than 2 years birth interval is twice those with 3. The more effective and user-friendly the FP method used, the greater the chances of the next child to survive.

3 Respond to the majority who want smaller families

Couples and women nowadays want smaller families. When surveyed about their ideal number of children, women in their 40s want slightly more than 3, but those in their teens and early 20s want just slightly more than 2.

Moreover, couples end up with families larger than what they desire. On average, Filipino women want close to 2 children but end up with 3. This gap between desired and actual family size is present in all social classes and regions, but is biggest among those who are poor.

4 Promote equity for poor families

RH indicators show severe inequities between the rich and poor. For example, 94% of women in the richest quintile have a skilled attendant at birth compared to only 26% in the poorest. The richest have 3 times higher tubal ligation rates compared to the poorest. This equity gap in tubal ligation partly explains why the wealthy hardly exceed their planned number of children, while the poorest get an extra 2. Infant deaths among the poorest are almost 3 times compared to the richest, which partly explains why the poor plan for more children. An RH law will promote equity in health through stronger public health services accessible to poor families.

5 Prevent induced abortions

Unintended pregnancies precede almost all induced abortions. Of all unintended pregnancies, 68% occur in women without any FP method, and 24% happen to those using traditional FP like withdrawal or calendar-abstinence.

If all those who want to space or stop childbearing would use modern FP, abortions would fall by some 500,000—close to 90% of the estimated total. In our country where abortion is strictly criminalized, and where 90,000 women are hospitalized yearly for complications, it would be reckless and heartless not to ensure prevention through FP.

6 Support and deploy more public midwives, nurses and doctors

RH health services are needed wherever people are establishing their families. For example, a report by the MDG Task Force points out the need for 1 fulltime midwife to attend to every 100 to 200 annual live births. Other health staff are needed for the millions who need prenatal and postpartum care, infant care and family planning. Investing in these core public health staff will serve the basic needs of many communities.

7 Guarantee funding for & equal access to health facilities

RH will need and therefore support many levels of health facilities. These range from barangay health stations, for basic prenatal, infant and FP care; health centers, for safe birthing, more difficult RH services like IUD insertions, and management of sexually transmitted infections; and hospitals, for emergency obstetric and newborn care and surgical contraception. Strong RH facilities will be the backbone of a strong and fairly distributed public health facility system.

8 Give accurate & positive sexuality education to young people

Currently, most young people enter relationships and even married life without the benefit of systematic inputs by any of our social institutions. As a result of just one faulty sexual decision, many young women and men can lose their future, their health and sometimes their lives. We insist on young voters’ education for an activity that occurs once every 3 years, but leave our young people with little preparation to cope with major life events like puberty and sexual maturation.

9 Reduce cancer deaths

Delaying sex, avoiding multiple partners or using condoms prevent genital warts or HPV infections that cause cervical cancers. Self breast exams and Pap smears can detect early signs of cancers which can be cured if treated early. All these are part of RH education and care. Contraceptives do not heighten cancer risks; combined pills actually reduce the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancers.

10 Save money that can be used for even more social spending

Ensuring modern FP for all who need it would increase spending from P1.9 B to P4.0 B, but the medical costs for unintended pregnancies would fall from P3.5 B to P0.6 B, resulting in a net savings of P0.8 B. There is evidence that families with fewer children do spend more for health and education.

Blogger's Insights

For me, Family planning is good. There may be some moral issues with the use of artificial methods, but generally, the objective is good. As with our ancestors who saw the benefits of family planning, it is still the same nowadays, in fact, it may be needed. Resources have to be managed, allocated and spent efficiently. Family planning, not family recommending. The Philippine government has been actively campaigning for the past decades trying to address the population growth of the country. It does have its effects, as most middle class families maintain 2 or 3 children unlike before that is more than that. People have seen already how too many children affect lifestyle. Ask around how many of the people that you know have 5 or more children, chances are there aren't too many. Ask around if there are people dreaming of many children, there's very few. So is the threat of overpopulation real? With this practical facts, it can be inferred that resources accessible to a family are supposed to be more manageable. So where is this all going? The problem lies not in the people or the way they handle their families. It is in the institutions that are taking care of them namely the government and the church. The government has to find out exactly if their old campaigns have been effective. There should be more collaboration between education, health, local and national governance. Synergy apparently isn't present, or it may have been swallowed up by factors like complexity of government system, scrupulous government officials and employees, uncooperative members and partners, and many others. Pinoys understand this is the case, but still effort must be done to address these things. Aggravating the situation is corruption which is a timeless problem with no concrete solution coming up. The government has the money and the resources for taking care, educating and uplifting the lives of people.

The church on the other hand, acts as a counterbalance to the things that the government does. Being the guardian of the morality and souls of the government's constituents, they answer to a spiritual calling whether Catholic, Muslim or Christian. Hearing the minister or the priest during sermons isn't enough as it is a very short time to address such complex issues. The values of the church, though simple and pretty straightforward, needs more expounding and more discussion of practical applications in every day life. People simply cannot relate anymore because it isn't clear where the message is coming from, so what happens is that most Filipinos grab on to what seems to be trending or what's coming from a figure of authority to them and from there makes rationalizations. During these times of logical and modern thinking, where information is accessible to all, many people needs to be convinced and taught how to look at things the way of the religion they belong to.

Still, the church and the government are just complimentary. The real power in resolving this is within the family. The Filipino Family is growing farther and farther apart. Support when its needed is not there. Parents are working overseas, children are left behind without much guidance. Family time has greatly been reduced throughout the years. Now there's a lot of distractions that take away family time like television, internet, computer games and many others. Gone are the days when children learn what they will stand up for when they grow up from their parents. Now they learn it from friends, from strangers with a nice smile, a celebrity without a sense, or some author who writes logically. We do not know who to believe, because the persons who are supposed to guide us are in a different country or because there seems to be no time and opportunity for guidance to happen. Experts are baffled why the children and youth are very angry nowadays. They are confused, and all the more things are getting more confusing.

These are just a few points that comes to mind, and rest assured there are still more. There are issues about pre-marital sex, same sex marriages, single parenthood and even adultery. Everyone and everything is complex, because we made it that way. There is no simple, clear cut solution to everything that is happening. Or maybe, perhaps there is. We should all be working together. Of course its the ideal and its very simple.

The issue is not abortion at all. It is a totally different aspect of the entire discussion. The issue is giving the people a choice of whether they will adapt the family planning methods that have been suggested for them. It is for them to take it or leave it. If the people so desire that they would choose from among the artificial family planning methods available, then it is their choice. The bottomline is that these information should be made available for everyone and explained to them, most especially those who have no capacity to learn and understand. These people are the ones most vulnerable.