Why HB 5043 Should Not be Passed

The Light of Life by Nellie Edwards from www.unbornwordoftheday.com

HB 5043, popularly known as the RH Bill is filled with data that is misleading to the public. The pro RH congressmen would promote its merits, but there are clearly more demerits if you study this bill closely.
Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines released a position paper showing 12 clear points why they are against the RH Bill. Every Filipino should read this especially the parents who are aiming to raise their children in a stable society. The Foundation sees the RH Bill as something like using gasoline to put out a fire. It worsens our problems instead of solving them. Here are some of their points worth thinking about:
1. The negative impact of an ageing population on our economy. More old people with less young people to work for and support senior citizen's needs.
2. Government emphasis on population control as the solution instead of taking care of medical needs of the sick.
3. The imposition of fines or imprisonment on those opposed to the implementation of this bill. This violates the freedom of conscience and right to excersise your religious principles.
4. Even contraceptives and devices that are believed to pose health risks in women will be classified as "essential medicines". (Why did they put the word "health" in this bill in the first place?)
5. It does not protect the family which is safeguarded by the constitution because it allows anyone to avail of "RH services" such as vasectomy or ligation even without the consent of the spouse thereby putting a strain on the relationship.
6. It violates the rights of parents because it allows an abused pregnant minor to avail of "reproductive health care services" even without parental consent.

In their position paper the 12th point states:

"HB 5043 ignores the mandate of Section 12, Article II of the Constitution, which provides as follows:

Sec.12.The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.

This provision leaves no room for the State or any of its agencies to get involved in any family planning program that promotes CONTRACEPTIVES that endanger the health of the mother and the life of the unborn from the point of conception."

We should question P-Noy's support for this bill as it violates some provisions of our constitution which he swore to protect. 

Contraception and Broken Relationships

The debate on the Reproductive Health Bill (HB 5043) is raging nowadays. I was surprised to learn that some friends who don’t give a damn about current issues suddenly have comments on their facebook pages on this bill.

I am against this bill because I never believed in contraception in the first place. There are moral and practical reasons why the Catholic Church is opposed to this, sadly it has been overlooked, misunderstood, or worse seen with indifference.

First I would like to focus on the practical reasons why contraception has negative effects on society. We all know that human beings are by nature prone to do what is forbidden because sometimes (admit it) it feels good. That is why we have laws that punish wrong doing, we call it deterrents. It makes you think twice if you are tempted to break the law for immediate gain. Deterrents promote discipline. Just imagine what will happen to society if we take away the jail terms for robbery? Occurrences for this crime will sky rocket. 

Sexual sins are more tempting. Throughout history, men have been tempted to commit adultery. And the deterrent that is keeping him from committing this sin is fear of pregnancy. With the entry of contraception, this deterrent is now out of the way. The possible result is an increase in men entering adulterous relationships. Even teens are apt to engage in pre-marital sex and be unfaithful to their partners. As more of these sexual sins occur, more broken relationships take place in our society. Broken relationships destroy the family, the basic unit of society. And the victims who are affected most are the innocent ones—the children. Children who were raised in a broken family tend to be less balanced and secure than those who grew up with their families intact. One of the main reasons is the absence of both parent’s love and affection. With the parent’s hurting because of their own broken relationship, they tend to neglect the needs of their children. Of course this is not often the case, but it is more the rule than the exception.  Our constitution recognizes that the family is sacred (sec. 12 art II). Contraception clearly attacks the harmony of marriages which is the foundation of a family. Our government by supporting a bill that promotes the spread of contraception is violating the very laws it has sworn to protect. Those who are pro contraceptives will argue that it actually helps the relationships of married men and women because it improves their sex life. No need to wait for non-fertile periods to have sex. No need to practice self control (this is actually a problem that could be discussed in another post). With this argument in mind, we need to ask a question. Isn't it easier to enter an adulterous relationship with contraception as your "safeguard"? 

It is a fact that contraceptives are not 100% effective (it has a failure rate—check out the condom boxes). With the rise of unfaithfulness and sexual sins, it follows that there would be an increase in unwanted pregnancies. What does this lead to? There is a high probability that abortions would also increase. It’s true that not all who get pregnant “accidentally” would resort to abortion. The point is couples who resort to contraception are closed to the possibility of new life when they have sex, which is why if a pregnancy occurs unexpectedly, they are more inclined to considering abortion.

It is not really hard to see why a contraceptive mentality can wreak havoc on our society. It’s really an escalation of problems which start from the the weakness of human beings and the tendency to give in to temptations. Contraceptives make it easier for us to yield to temptations thereby leading to negative and serious social consequences.