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Family planning law passed in Philippines

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Popular support is significant given that approximately 80 per cent of the population is Catholic.

The Catholic Church in the Philippines has suffered a defeat with the recent passing of the controversial Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, a law which mandates state-funded contraceptives for poor women.

The Senate and the House of Representatives approved the bill on December 17, with the approval of both Christian and Muslim leaders but with strong opposition from the Catholic Church.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, a co-sponsor of the bill said that the bill took 14 years to be passed because of Catholic opposition.

“We were like David against Goliath,” she said.  “We fought long and hard, and in the end we prevailed.”

The law’s popular support is significant given that approximately 80 per cent of the Philippine population is Catholic.

The Catholic church’s widespread power has prevented the government legalizing abortion and divorce and teaches against its congregations using any kind of birth control.

In fact, the Church threatened to excommunicate Filipino President, Benigno Aquino, if he signed the bill into law.

Filipino women particularly have suffered as a result of these highly restrictive rulings.

The Philippines has one of the highest birth rates in Asia, and United Nations Population Fund statistics show that of the 3.4 million pregnancies that  occur in the Philippines every year, half are unplanned and one third are aborted in unsafe conditions.

The United Nations Population Fund also says that nearly 70 percent of women use no contraception.

 Giselle La-badan, a 30 year-old roadside vendor and practicing Catholic, is one of the few who uses contraceptives and is in support of the new law.

“If the church can provide milk, [nappies] and rice,” she said, “then go ahead, let’s make more babies.”

“But there are just too many people now, too many homeless people, and the church doesn’t help to feed them.”

The Responsible Parenthood Act is vital for women in the Philippines and will go a long way to improving the lives of poor women by allowing them to plan their families and, therefore, get out of the cycle of poverty.

In recent years, Filipino women have left their homes and families on Overseas Contracts to work in the service industry of many developed countries, including the UK.

In the last 30 years the Filipino population in the UK has increased by more than 800 per cent; approximately 200,000 Filipinos work and live in UK – where they have ready access to family planning.

Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch said in a statement: ‘(T)he Reproductive Health Bill is a victory for Filipino women, who have waited long enough for this day to happen.

‘This bill marks the start of an era in which public policies in the Philippines can save lives, promote healthy family planning, and respect human rights.’

And gay rights group ProGay Philippines argues that the law will help to stem the spread of HIV.

The law not only provides state-funded contraception for those who cannot afford it; it also mandates that schools offer comprehensive sex education and provinces provide family planning counseling, support for breast-feeding, and reproductive and maternal health education for women and men.

The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act will take effect on January 17, if the Catholic appeals do not succeed.

Even though President Aquino has called for reconciliation with the Church after the passing of the law, the Church has already begun the process of challenging the law in court.

On January 2 Catholic lawyer James Imbong and his wife Lovely-Ann filed a suit in the Supreme Court to stop the Act being implemented because, they argue, it is unconstitutional and “mocks” the nation’s cultural values.

This challenge is not unexpected and Representative Edcel Lagman expects that the courts will see more suits filed to prevent the law from taking effect.

“We are prepared for this,” he said. “We are certain that the law is completely constitutional and will surmount any attack on or test of its constitutionality.”

In the meantime Giselle La-badan argues that faith alone cannot help women control their fertility.

“I have prayed before not to have another child, she said, “but the condom worked better.”

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