Population - beyond economics (Second of two parts)

Two Sundays ago, the priest’s sermon was about his brief stay in Singapore to visit his foster parents. As it was his first visit, he promised himself to cover every square inch of this island state and so he did. As he went on to know the thriving and bustling life therein, and like any first time visitor, he was awed at the sight of the imposing edifices, the seemingly organized way of life there. In all her magnificence, it piqued his inquisitive mind as to how Singapore made it as an economic tiger.

His demographic research tells him that Singapore has a low growth rate. In short, what he was trying to tell in that sermon that population growth can be controlled if Filipinos were like the people in Singapore. “Singaporeans are focused with what they do like the Japanese. They are disciplined enough when to and not to make children even if the government is encouraging to have children.”  

I grinned at the thought of raising my hand and ask if there were contraceptives in Singapore. For sure, that would have changed his mind if he knew that low birthrates are also attributable to the use of contraceptives by Singaporeans for practical reasons such as Singaporean women are working moms and real estate is expensive in Singapore and that raising a big family would be inconvenient for the children.

The sermon overall, dissuades the parishioners the economic consequences of uncontrolled sex. And I agree. And I also agree that contraceptives should not be sold to unmarried couples. However, I cannot support the stand of the Catholic Church as to the methods employed in birth control for legitimate couples. The church has stood pat on its position that outside the natural methods, contraceptives should not be allowed and taken to be not ethically permissible.

However, the Church does not say whether it is ethically permissible to allow poor and uneducated mothers to die due to the lack of maternal and obstetric health care in the country. As I mentioned, ten mothers die every single day leaving more than 30 children motherless due to childbearing-related issues. It is so easy to rant and point these things to the government but can afford to take a blind eye on what to do with those children who are orphaned from out of these maternal deaths. What is so moral about having to allow children to live without the care of a mother? Studies have shown that many of those being orphaned end up in streets, vending or begging. Some grow up only to become in conflict with the law or sell themselves as prostitutes or mercenaries.  

The Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) is being put forward to promote sustainable human development. The UN stated in 2002 that “family planning and reproductive health are essential to reducing poverty.” The Unicef also asserts that “family planning could bring more benefits to more people at less cost than any other single technology now available to the human race.”

The coverage of the RH Bill includes: (1) Information and access to natural and modern family planning (2) Maternal, infant and child health and nutrition (3) Promotion of breast feeding (4) Prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications (5) Adolescent and youth health (6) Prevention and management of reproductive tract infections, HIV/AIDS and STDs (7) Elimination of violence against women (8) Counseling on sexuality and sexual and reproductive health (9) Treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers (10) Male involvement and participation in RH; (11) Prevention and treatment of infertility and (12) RH education for the youth.

But what is wrong with the Bill why is the Catholic Church against it? For the most part, the Church argues essentially on “moral” grounds and on such other reasons to reinforce their position. The first being access to artificial family planning methods would encourage promiscuity among unmarried couples; it is violates the Constitutional provision on the rights of the unborn; that there is no direct relation between population growth and poverty; that the methods use are not safe.

(To be continued.)

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