Workers' group backs RH Bill

CEBU, Philippines - Partido ng Manggagawa supports the passage of Reproductive Health Bill believing it would help promote women’s right to reproductive health care.

According to the group, the rapid increase in population due to unmet needs of married Filipino women for family planning services is a growing concern. 

In a statement, PM said working women add the voices to the chorus of support for the RH bill as it asserts that the passage of House Bill 96 or “The Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2010” is critical given the impact of the global financial crisis on working people and the poor, especially women. 

“The growing incidence of hunger and poverty only connotes that poor and working women will neither be able to afford nor access contraceptive methods, in particular, and reproductive health care services, in general,” the group said.

According to PM, the Catholic Church’s “irresponsible statement” that modern contraception is a form of abortion distorts the scientific fact that pregnancy happens at implantation and not during conception as it boldly claims.

“Such unscientific assertion belies the Church’s claim of being not anti-scientific; it is rather relative, depending on whether it would adhere to its archaic views, regardless of it being anti-women,” PM’s statement added.

Human Life International country director Rene Josef Bullecer, on the other hand, said the recent support of the Iglesia ni Kristo on the RH bill is nothing as the latter just came to the rescue to their presidential candidate whose rating is going down steadily.

“Finally, all the non-Catholic denominations showed their true color by openly supporting RH. So as of today, only the Catholic Church says Noto RH Bill. All the other man-made religions are for RH,” Bullecer said in a text message sent to The FREEMAN.

Meanwhile, in reaction to the declaration of the Department of Labor and Employment that bonuses should be given to workers involved in family planning, PM is pushing for paid leaves for employees availing of reproductive health services.

The group believes that provisions of the controversial RH bill which provides for half-day paid leaves for pre-natal consultations would be a big relief to women workers. –(FREEMAN)