Fast break attempt

It looks like the authors and supporters of House Bill (HB) 3773 otherwise known and euphemistically entitled as "Responsible Parenthood and Population Management Act of 2005" are out to make a fast break in their obsessive pursuit of its passage by the present 13th Congress. The Bill had only two public hearings on January 25 and February 1, 2005 at the Committee on Women so not everyone was able to present their position papers especially because it was originally two separate bills – HB 2029 (Reproductive Health) and HB 16 (2-Child Policy) – consolidated in a Committee closed door session on February 8, 2005. On February 22, 2005 the Committee reported it out already for deliberations at a Plenary Session. Then on June 8, 2005, with public attention focused on the jueteng probe and the "destabilizing" tapes, the bill was presented to the House floor for deliberation and approval despite a pending motion at the Committee on Health for a joint hearing with the Committee on Women regarding the bill.

At this stage, it is not yet too late for our congressmen and the public to know the basic flaws, inherent defects and unfounded premises of HB 3773. Quoted hereunder are portions of the letter to our Honorable Congressmen by Ms. Rosie B. Luistro, President of Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines, Inc. refuting point by point the claims by the authors that HB 3773 will address" an uncontained population escalation" and result in improved reproductive health largely through nation-wide provision of "adequate information on reproductive health and regular and timely dispensation of health care services". Wrote Ms. Luistro:

"Poverty is not caused nor aggravated by overpopulation, but by the wrong economic policies, poor governance and systematic corruption. What seems to be overpopulation is over-concentration of the urban poor in slum areas, in pursuit of employment and educational opportunities. Numerous economic studies have shown there is no correlation between population and poverty.

House Bill 3773 is based on flawed data on population growth and fertility levels. The country’s Population Growth Rate has declined since the Year 2000 Census of 2.36%. The correct PGR is either 1.8% (United Nations) or 1.94% (National Census Office, 2005-2010 projection). The country’s Total Fertility Rate is not 3.5 but 2.6 (United Nations) or 3.2 (NSO). In a few decades, fertility rate will be at replacement level 2.1. Population will not double in 30 years, since this assumes that the Population Growth Rate stays constant at the 2000 level of 2.36%.

If we spend our scarce resources towards birth control, we would merely be promoting the undesirable outcome of de-population. This is now a problem for many developed countries relying on a few young people to bear the needs of the elderly.

House Bill 3773 would also allow substantial funding to be coursed towards "reproductive health," rather than focusing on serious health needs that should be prioritized. The term itself is misleading, since the Bill is neither about reproduction nor health. It suggests that women block their reproductive capacity using artificial means that cause harmful side effects.

In every single country where contraceptives became widely available, abortions increased. This is because women will still get pregnant unexpectedly. When they have the mentality that a new birth is unwanted, they turn to abortion as back-up for contraceptive failure. For instance, 54% American women who had an abortion were using contraception when they became pregnant; one in three women has had at least one abortion in their lifetime. Yet the contraceptive prevalence rate in the United States is over 90%.

"Reproductive health" policy brings us down the road to legalized abortion, no matter how often we say otherwise. Congressmen-authors even suggested during hearings that life begins only upon the implantation of the fertilized ovum, and not at conception, thereby denying the abortifacient properties of the Pill and the IUD. In United Nations international conferences, there is universal understanding of the term "reproductive health" to include "abortion rights".

A social stigma will be imposed on large families because of the "2-child policy" as an ideal, the offer of free ligation service to indigent mothers, and the punitive acts mandated by the Bill. These cultural and sociological changes will also be introduced in the classrooms through mandatory sex education of the youth, thereby usurping parental rights and exposing our children to information they may not be ready to receive. Despite the extensive sex education Americans receive, there are now more sexually transmitted diseases (15 million new cases annually) and more teen-age birth than ever before (800,000 annually).

Recent published research indicates that use of contraceptives significantly increases, not decreases, the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases, even without factoring in increased promiscuity. Teaching the youth in schools about these devices would give them false security and endanger their future. Teaching youth about abstinence and, at the same time, discussing birth control as an acceptable option, is mixed message with serious consequences.

Most importantly, House Bill 3773 violates the Constitution in many aspects: the strengthening of the family, the protection of the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from contraception, the natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth in the development of moral character, and the right of spouses to found their families in accordance with their religious convictions (Article II, Section 12 and 13, Article XV, Sections 1 and 13)."

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