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Date Posted: 00:06:01 09/17/12 Mon
Author: IMRD
Subject: Sept. 15-17, 2011 news

http://opinion.inquirer.net/36828/no-need-for-an-rh-bill-now-or-ever

No need for an RH bill, now or ever
By Bernardo Villegas, Evelina Atienza Frank Padilla Anthony Lumicao and 15 others
Philippine Daily Inquirer
10:23 pm | Saturday, September 15th, 2012
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ANTI-RH BILL RALLY. Thousands, including Muslims, brave the rain to protest the reproductive health bill at Edsa Shrine. JOHANN GUASCH/CONTRIBUTOR
There is no need for any legislation that guarantees universal access to contraceptives, the so-called reproductive health (RH) care devices, now or ever. Whatever “band-aid” amendments may be proposed by well-intentioned proponents of the RH bill to make it more palatable, the underlying principles behind it are inherently flawed.

Antisustainable growth
The first component of sustainable development is a rate of economic growth that is high enough to contribute, together with appropriate economic policies, to the eradication of poverty. High gross domestic product growth is dependent on a growing and young population as has been stated by numerous international economists and top officials.
The just released Global Competitiveness Report 2012 of the World Economic Forum, like the HSBC 2012 Report, had the Philippines jumping several notches up in economic competitiveness because of our large, growing population.
Population control, however, will backfire and cause the acceleration of our falling fertility rate. Many pro-RH proponents harp on the dangers of population explosion. They have not learned from the lessons of the last two centuries of unparalleled economic progress in many countries of the East and the West that have disproved the Malthusian theory of perpetual poverty caused by the so-called geometric growth of population.
New resources
The unlimited capacity of the human mind to discover new resources and technologies has overcome the “limits to growth” that sowed fears in the last century.
Some of the greatest minds of the 20th century such as Nobel laureates Simon Kuznets and Michael Spence; Dr. Mahbub ul Haq, creator of the development index; and resource specialists Colin Clark and Julian Simon have shown through cross-country studies and long-term analyses of the economic experiences of developed countries that population growth was a positive stimulus to economic progress and that it was surpassed by the growth in real income.
Economists who purport to show the opposite have for their sample very few countries. They also have access to data over a relatively short period compared with the studies showing that there is no correlation between population growth and the spread of mass poverty, which is due to erroneous economic policies and failure of good governance.
Even those few countries in which there is some evidence that birth control policies temporarily helped in boosting economic growth in the short run are now regretting their fertility reduction programs. Well-known are the attempts of the leaders of Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan to appeal to their women to bear more babies.
Premarital sex, abortion
Since material well-being is not the only component of human development or happiness, there is another problem that widespread use of contraceptives can unleash. The findings of Nobel laureate George Akerlof who, despite his protestations that he was in favor of abortion and artificial contraception, demonstrated with empirical evidence that the “reproductive technology shock” led to an increase in premarital sex, and due to contraceptive failure, also in unwed mothers, children without fathers and other societal ills.


http://opinion.inquirer.net/36716/the-rh-bill-is-pro-development

The RH bill is pro-development
By David L. Balangue
9:28 pm | Friday, September 14th, 2012
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A number of arguments for and against the Reproductive Health bill have been posited and the debates have been mostly emotional, with the Senate seemingly succeeding in derailing the passage of the measure. The Catholic Church has taken the lead in opposing the passage of the bill into law, claiming that certain provisions are against Church teachings. The Church has even broadly defined abortion to include the use of condoms and other common contraceptives. It has mislabeled the RH bill as promoting abortion notwithstanding specific provisions to the contrary.
Those opposed to the RH bill argue that we do not need measures to curtail population growth because we are not really overpopulated. In fact, a number of global economists look favorably at the Philippines because of its young and growing population. They claim that the demand for goods that these young Filipinos need will spur the growth of the Philippine economy. The opponents also mention the situation in Japan and other developed western nations that have had low population growth for decades now and thus face a graying population which the working class may eventually have difficulty supporting. But isn’t this akin to our current situation, where the productive working class is unable to support the unproductive sectors of our population?
Depending on one’s values, many cynically prefer the status quo but without admitting that their position is founded on their own vested and selfish interests. From a selfish affluent Filipino family’s standpoint, why curtail population growth when this provides an adequate supply of cheap and qualified maids, drivers and other members of the labor force? And since the poor are unable to afford sending their children to good but expensive schools, the children of the affluent families gain a real and distinct advantage in receiving much better education, which gives them better and improved chances of landing good-paying jobs.
Since population growth is highest among the poor, this vicious chain of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer will be perpetuated. Access to contraceptives is denied only the very poor and uneducated in the country; it has never been a problem for the rich and a large part of the middle class. Thus, making contraceptives more accessible will not redound much to the benefit of these groups in our society. The RH bill, providing for better and easier access to contraceptives and pushing for responsible parenthood, is pro-poor and pro-development and will at least afford the poor the opportunity to better manage the size of their families. Access to a better life is a paramount right of every individual, and it is the government’s duty to make this possible.
People can be an asset or a liability. If they are educated, skilled and possess the right attitude and values, they are an asset. The challenge now is: How do we increase the number of Filipinos who can be assets to the country? How do we create the environment and circumstances that will enable us to achieve this? In relation to the RH bill, will its passage into law and the enforcement of its provisions contribute to or hamper the achievement of this environment? The answer is obvious.
The ideal situation is, of course, one where there are both good quantity and good quality of Filipinos. However, blocking the RH bill’s passage and keeping the status quo will not make this possible. The government’s current resources are not enough to take care of the poor and give them opportunities to pull themselves out of the quagmire of continuing poverty.
Let’s look at our neighbors. Thailand, which had a population of 54.6 million compared to our 60.7 million in 1990, now has only 65.5 million compared to our 92.3 million. Thailand’s population grew by 20 percent, and ours by a whopping 52 percent! Its per capita GDP is $9,400, which is more than double our $4,100. There are, of course, other factors involved, but to a great extent, Thailand’s growth and development are attributable to the lower growth in its population. The empirical evidence on the high population growth of developing economies hampering their economic growth and development is so undisputable that the opponents of the RH bill resort to emotion and religion, and, to some extent, disinformation, to defend their position.
Undeniably, the chances of improvement in the quality of life of the greater mass of Filipinos will be better if the RH bill is passed. It is high time we set aside our personal beliefs as to God’s mandate for us to “go forth and multiply,” looked squarely into the face of reality, and stopped being hypocritical. Surely, the majority of the millions who hear Catholic Masses every Sunday use contraceptives one way or another, particularly those with less than four children. If this were not so, then the average size of the Filipino family would have remained the same—around nine children, as was the case in the families of both my parents during their time.
For the Catholic Church to hear the wish and sentiment of its flock, perhaps for the coming two Sundays, those who support the RH bill should hear Mass on Saturday instead. With the resulting “empty” Sundays, perhaps the Church will wake up to reality and listen to its people, and cease opposing the passage of the RH bill into law.
David L. Balangue is the chair of the Coalition Against Corruption, former chair and managing partner of SGV & Co., and founder of the titacorymovement@yahoogroups.com. Comments may be sent to davidlbalangue@yahoo.com.ph.


http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/09/15/12/8-reasons-why-catholics-support-rh
8 reasons why Catholics support RH
By Miriam Defensor Santiago
Posted at 09/15/2012 5:05 PM | Updated as of 09/15/2012 5:05 PM
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8 REASONS WHY CATHOLICS SUPPORT RH
By Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago
(Keynote speech at the program sponsored by the Catholics for Reproductive Health, on15 September 2012, at the UP College of Social Work and Development)
REASON ONE
The Catholic Church Does Not Consider
Anti-RH Teaching as Infallible
Theology consists of critical reflection on faith. St. Anselm of Canterbury gave to us the classic definition of theology as: “Faith seeking understanding.” But theology is the result not only of faith, but also of certain normative rules which fall into two categories: doctrines and dogmas. Doctrines consist of beliefs or teachings which receive the official approval of the Church.
But by contrast, dogmas, which literally mean “what is right,” are doctrines that are taught definitively and promulgated with the highest solemnity. In other words, dogmas are the definitive rules of faith. If you reject a dogma, you become a heretic. Parenthetically, it is very strange that our Church has failed to enumerate what are the Catholic dogmas.
A teaching which is dogma is infallible; but a teaching which is mere doctrine is not infallible. A doctrine can change over time. Thus, the 1973 Mysterium Ecclesiae, a declaration issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states: “The expressions of revelation are historically conditioned, and therefore the meaning is not always self-evident to those in some other historical setting. The meaning in dogmatic language may change from one historical period to another. The truth itself may be expressed incompletely.”
In his classic bestseller, the 1994 revised edition of the book entitled Catholicism, Richard P. McBrien of the University of Notre Dame, said: “The Church has never explicitly claimed to such infallibility on a moral question.” The RH issue is a moral question. The Catholic Church has never claimed that any pronouncement on the RH issue is infallible.
And in the 1996 book Christ Among Us, Anthony Wilhelm said that on the question of contraception: “The large majority of theologians agree that no question of infallibility is involved.”
REASON TWO
The Catholic Enjoys Freedom of Conscience
Every Catholic, like any citizen, enjoys freedom of conscience. In fact, modern theology now recognizes the primacy of conscience over mere doctrines formulated by certain clerics. In 1965, Pope Paul 6 issued an encyclical letter entitled Dignitatis Humanae, also known as Declaration on Religious Freedom. The Pope wrote: “Man perceives and acknowledges the imperatives of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all his activity, a man is bound to follow his conscience in order that he may come to God, the end and purpose of living. It follows that he is not to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his conscience.”
In 1967, the same Pope Paul 6 issued another encyclical entitled Populorum Progreso, also known as “On the Development of Peoples.” The Pope said: “It is for the parish to decide, with full knowledge of the matter, on the number of their children . . . in all these they must follow the demands of their own conscience.”
The 1971 statement by the US Sacred Congregation for the Clergy states: “Conscience is invulnerable and no person is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his (or her) conscience.”
Years later, in 1993, Pope John Paul 23 issued his encyclical entitled Veritatis Splendor, also known as Splendor of Truth. The Pope said: “The authority of the Church, when she pronounces on moral questions, in no way undermines the freedom of conscience of Christians. The Church puts herself always and only in the service of conscience.”
And in 1996, in the book Christ Among Us, which I have already cited, Anthony Wilhelm wrote that some “500 American theologians, in concert with many theologians throughout the world, asserted that for grave reasons Catholics may follow their conscience this matter even though the Pope has spoken.”
Quoting Andrew Greeley, both a priest and socialist, Wilhelm reached the following conclusion: “It is a clear teaching that, while erroneous decisions might be made in following one’s conscience, one who has tried to inform one’s conscience must then follow it.”
REASON THREE
RH Observes the “Preferential Option for the Poor,”
Under Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is the theory which interprets liberation from social, political, and economic oppression as an anticipation of eschatological or post-death salvation. The following are the basic principles of liberation theology:
• It is the Church and not merely the Catholic hierarchy, which is a sacrament.

• By Church, we mean the whole People of God, not just the hierarchy.

• The whole People of God participates in the mission of Christ, and not just in the mission of the Catholic hierarchy.

• The mission of the Church includes service to those in need, and, parenthetically, service to the women of the poor. The mission of the Church is not limited to the preaching of the gospel or the celebration of the sacraments.
In his 1988 book, A Theory of Liberation, Gustavo Gutierrez wrote that the preferential option for the poor is central in liberation theology. He advocated giving “preference to the poorest and most needy sectors.” He reminded Catholics of the statement made by Pope John Paul 23 just before the opening of Vatican 2 that the Church is called upon to be a church of the poor. Gutierrez said: “Let me say only that we have here two aspects of the church’s life that are both demanding and inseparable: universality and preference for the poor.”
REASON FOUR
RH is Part of Today’s Sense of the Faithful,
Also Known as Sensus Fidelium
Literally, sensus fidelium means “the sense of the faithful.” It refers to doctrinal truth recognized by the whole body of the faithful. In theology, the sense of the faithful belongs to the individual believer within the community of the faithful. In other words, God teaches us not only through the priests and the bishops, but also through the laity, to whom God gives understanding of the faith.
In opposing the RH bill, certain members of the Catholic religious fail to listen effectively to the sense of the faithful. The Catholic clergy have a moral duty to take into consideration the experiences and consciousness of the laity. The religious should descend from the pulpit and consult with parishioners on RH. Today we find some of the male religious issuing their orders and directives from the pulpit, or in other words using the bully pulpit. Some of them manage only to appeal to blind faith, instead of participating in a consultative process with the Catholic laity, particularly the poor and the underprivileged.
REASON FIVE
Surveys Showing Catholic Support for RH is
“A Sign of the Times”
The majority of Filipinos are Catholics. A nationwide survey therefore serves as a basis for assuming that the results of the survey reflect the thinking of Catholics. At the most recent survey conducted last August 2011 by the Social Weather Stations, the results produced “Yes” answers to the following questions:
• “The choice of a family planning method is a personal choice of couples, and no one should interfere with it.” – Yes, 82%

• “If a couple wants to plan its family, it would be able to get information from government on all legal methods.” – Yes, 73%

• The government should fund all means of family planning, be it natural or artificial means.” – Yes, 68%
In other countries like the Philippines, which are predominantly Catholic, many are using family planning programs, including contraception, using public funding. Some of these countries and the percentage of Catholic for each are as follows:
• Italy, 97% Catholic

• Poland, 94%

• Paraguay, 90%

• Portugal, 90%

• Ecuador, 90%

• Argentina, 89%

• Spain, 88%
This explains why that in these Catholic countries, the population growth rate is very low, hovering between .02 to .05% population growth rate. By contrast, the Philippines, without an RH law, has a population growth rate of 2.01%.
REASON SIX
Since God is Love, RH is Proof of Love for the Poor
And Therefore is Proof of Love for God
The Catholic concept of God as love, is diametrically opposed to the fact that everyday, 15 Filipino mothers die from pregnancy and childbirth complications. When I last read my Bible, I came across the passage describing Jesus surrounded by disciples. As students, they decided to raise this question with Jesus, who acted as their teacher: “Master, what is the greatest law of all?” and Jesus answered: “The first law is that you should love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul. And the second law is that you should love your neighbor as yourself.”
In the Catholic Church, what has happened to the concept of love as the moral force of the universe? The Catholic religious, particularly the clerics, insist quite loudly that we should all obey the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, also known as “On the Regulation of Birth,” issued by Pope Paul 6. This encyclical was the result of a Special Papal Commission established by Pope John 23 and concluded during the term of Pope Paul 6.
The Papal Commission was split into two. The majority proposed that contraception should no longer be condemned. By contrast, the minority proposed that the Pope should continue to condemn contraception. Perversely, Pope Paul 6 decided to adopt the minority view.
Unfortunately, the Pope rejected the majority view supporting artificial contraception, based on the following arguments:
• The teaching of the Catholic Church evolves over time.

• The problem with some of the religious is that they view the conjugal act as an isolated reality. But today, under the principle of totality, the conjugal act is viewed in the broader context of human love, family life, education, etc.
The majority opinion specifically stated that instead of viewing sex as a mere physical act designed to perpetuate the human race, instead: “In some cases intercourse can be required as a manifestation of self-giving love.”
I very humbly submit that in their blind allegiance to the encyclical Humane Vitae and ignoring that it embodies the minority opinion of the Special Papal Commission, the Catholic religious in this country, particularly the priests and bishops, continue the obsolete notion that the Church is an authoritarian structure. The Filipino Catholic religious should now accept that they do not constitute the Church. Instead, the Church is primarily constituted by the whole people of God. The Filipino Catholic religious should engage all members of the Church in dialogues.
Filipino Catholics should now insist that priests and bishops in our country are no longer a special caste in Philippine society. The Catholic Church does not consist of the priests and bishops alone. Instead, the Church consists of the whole faith community.
I very humbly submit that since the priest is no longer a special person in Catholic theology, many Filipino priests are suffering from a sense of confusion about RH.
REASON SEVEN
Anti-RH is Cruelty to the Poor
On the RH issue, the Church hierarchy insists upon what it chooses to call morality, as if they have exclusive jurisdiction over morality. In the name of morality, the Church strongly opposes RH, thus inflicting upon the poor people undeserved and unnecessary suffering. In this aspect, the Church appears to be the opponent of progress and of improvement that would otherwise diminish suffering in the world. The Church chooses to label as morality a certain set of rules of conduct, which have nothing to do with human happiness.
Does the Church love and care for the Filipino poor? They are miserable, because among other reasons, they have so many children. Without reproductive knowledge and information, the poor are just condemned to a vicious cycle of poverty, from generation to generation.
I very humbly submit that in its methodology, the Catholic religious is unconsciously basing our religion on fear. Bertrand Russell, the famous writer and philosopher, and also one of the great heretics in morals and religion, has attacked religion with this passage which applies squarely to the campaign against RH: “Religion is partly the terror of the unknown and . . . partly the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing – fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death.” And he urged his readers as follows: “Conquer the world by intelligence, and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it . . . A good world needs knowledge, candidness, and courage.”
REASON EIGHT
The RH Bill is Over Ten Years Old; It is Cowardly
to Keep Postponing the Decision
It appears that in Congress, the first precursor to the RH bill was filed in 2001. The bill is now 11 years old. If the present efforts to delay the bill by means of a filibuster in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, then this will be proof that legislators are afraid of the Catholic vote. We do not even know whether there is such a thing as a Catholic vote. But any reasonable person would immediately reach the conclusion that some of our legislators refuse to face the facts squarely. Perhaps they think that if they are anti-RH, they will automatically go to heaven; while the pro-RH legislators will automatically go to hell. I repeat my belief that there is no hell; but if there is, there is nobody there because God is everlasting love.


http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/373517/rh-power

Medium Rare
RH Power
By JULLIE YAP DAZA
September 14, 2012, 8:36pm

MANILA, Philippines — The power of the RH bill to provoke – i.e., to think, away from the herd and without resorting to knee-jerk reactions – is the power to leave many of us with two minds. PEZA Director-General Lilia de Lima, one of eleven children, summed it up when she admitted, “I am ambivalent.”
For or against family planning and responsible parenthood? To obey the Church or follow one’s conscience? The dilemma is even more problematic for a 40-something like JV Ejercito. As a former mayor of San Juan, he knows the bill is a must: “The problem stares at you in the face, on the ground.” As a Catholic who counts priests and bishops among his friends and whose counsel he respects, he knows they are older and wiser. His mother, the incumbent Mayor Guia, who is staunchly Catholic, “is against RH,” and there’s another layer of complication for him. As the half-brother of 13 other children of Joseph Estrada, Rep. Ejercito has no problem being part of a huge nuclear family, Filipino style. It would be hard to find someone who has more reasons to be ambivalent.
How will the San Juan congressman vote? “I haven’t made up my mind, it’s a very difficult decision.” Indeed, we’ve waited 15 years to decide. Now an out-of-the-box idea has surfaced, to confine the bill’s application to the urban poor, or something to that effect. I see another prolonged debate... without a conclusion.
Possibly to test how wide the ambivalence goes, Fred de la Rosa, who writes for the Manila Times, conducted his own casual survey by texting 41 women, all professionals. The results: 26 for, 2 opposed, 2 neutral (ambivalent?), 3 with vague (ambivalent?) answers. Only seven are unmarried. Fred’s own opinion? Like most good husbands, he says, half-jokingly, that he will agree with his wife’s decision. (Apparently he hasn’t texted her yet.)

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