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Date Posted: 20:19:34 10/18/12 Thu
Author: IMRD
Subject: Oct. 19, 2012 news

http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=House-to-tackle-new-RH-bill----Belmonte&id=60303

House to tackle new RH bill -- Belmonte

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A PROPOSED substitute measure that will address concerns on the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill will be taken up by the House of Representatives when it resumes session next month.
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“We have caused the distribution of a proposed substitute bill on House Bill No. 4244 which is an act providing for the comprehensive policy on responsible parenthood, reproductive health, and population and development,” House Majority Leader Neptali M. Gonzales II said at the close of session on Wednesday.

The purpose is “to allow the members of the committee to be apprised of the existence of the said proposed substitute bill, and to allow them to study the same and to go over during the break, so that after we return from the break and when the said proposed substitute bill be approved, then it will be the basis of the individual amendments,” Mr. Gonzales added.

Congress goes into recess on Oct. 20 to Nov. 4.

The substitute bill “is a definite step forward, it’s a bill that answers a lot of objections to the original bill,” Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr. said in a press briefing yesterday.

“What I’m hoping is that the current proposed draft which many people had inputs... could be voted into as a substitute of the current bill,” he added.

Details of the substitute bill were not disclosed as Mr. Belmonte only said that “morning-after” pills will be prohibited.

He added that the proposal is not a “watered-down” version of the priority measure.

For her part, Senior Deputy Majority leader Janette L. Garin (1st district, Iloilo) said in a phone interview yesterday that the proposal was drafted during meetings of the informal technical working group (TWG).

The informal TWG was formed last month with other stakeholders including the Catholic Church to fast-track the RH bill. The Church has rejected the measure claiming it encourages abortion.

Senate Bill No. 2865, the chamber’s version of the RH bill, is currently at the period of amendments. Both versions are pending second reading approval. -- Kathryn Mae P. Tubadeza

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/291654/house-new-rh-bill-targets-foes-concerns

House new RH bill targets foes’ concerns
By Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
1:26 am | Friday, October 19th, 2012
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A watered-down version of the reproductive health bill has been introduced to the plenary of the House of Representatives to address the concerns raised by opponents of the controversial measure.
The changes include giving priority to the poor in the provision of birth control methods and banning contraceptives that prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum, as this is considered abortion by some sectors.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the new version was a “definite step forward” for the bill, which has met strong opposition in and out of Congress.
“It’s a bill that answers a lot of the objections to the original bill,” Belmonte said Thursday.
Some of the opponents will find the new version more acceptable “with a little more tinkering,” although there are those who still find it hard to accept such a measure, he said.
Compromise
Authors of the bill intend to substitute the watered-down bill to the original one so that the compromise measure would be the basis of proposed individual amendments later, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II told reporters on Wednesday night.
Gonzales said copies of the “proposed working draft” of the new bill were being distributed to lawmakers so that they could peruse it during Congress’ two-week break that started Thursday, and make a more informed decision about their stand on the bill.
The proposed Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population Development Act is one of the “very important” bills that the House has to act on when it returns from its two-week recess, Belmonte told lawmakers before the House adjourned on Wednesday.
One of the main authors of the bill, Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, said the new features of the bill were intended to address the objections, reservations and concerns of its critics. These were in addition to the other changes that the authors announced earlier.
Suggestions accommodated
“The foregoing new and old acceptable amendments do not dilute or destroy the essence of the original bill even as they accommodate the suggestions and concerns of well-meaning [opponents],” Lagman said in a statement.
The new version says the state would prioritize the needs of poor households when it comes to providing reproductive healthcare services and devices.
The impoverished men and women to be provided services must be identified through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction and other government methods of identifying marginalization. They must also be voluntary beneficiaries of reproductive healthcare, services and supplies for free.

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