Cultures of death and corruption

Barely three days in office, Barack Obama has revealed his true color when he repealed the rules restricting federal money for international organizations that promote or provide abortions overseas. By a stroke of his pen he swept aside a “crucial pillar of the social policy architecture” of his predecessor and lifted the restrictions barring the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from providing money to any international non-governmental organization (NGO) that “performs or actively promotes abortion and a wide range of activities including providing advice, counseling and information about abortion” as a method of family planning in foreign countries.

In his statement explaining his move, Obama bemoaned “the politicization of abortion”. Yet his swift and sweeping move of reversing the abortion policy of his predecessor who belongs to the rival political party looks more like the very act of “politicizing” that he denounces. He betrays intolerance for sharp policy differences on this issue of abortion which he did not clearly display while campaigning, obviously to prevent the loss of substantial number of votes. His stance in favor of abortion is not as clear and categorical now that he is in power as when he was still campaigning. This is politics pure and simple.

Even the timing of his pro-abortion policy announcement is a political act. He included it among his first moves after being inaugurated as President when Americans were still in euphoria over a history-setting event of electing the first black president who captured their imagination with his glib tongue and the ability to mobilize the English language to suit his purpose. Apparently, he took advantage of the situation, supremely confident that his move will receive the same degree of adulation he still enjoys now and will no longer be the subject of a “back and forth, stale and fruitless debate”.

In justifying the promotion of abortion overseas, Obama even attacked his political opponent for having “undermined efforts to promote safe and effective voluntary family planning in developing countries, for the past eight years”. So he said that “it is right for us to rescind this policy and restore critical efforts to protect and empower women and promote global economic development”.

Note that he not only fired a broadside against his losing opponent but also used politically correct words that appeal to women and to the international community in terms of alleged economic development. Obama bemoans the “politicization” of abortion yet his justifications for promoting abortion smack of sheer politics; the same kind of politics he obviously used in his successful, history making run to take over the Oval Office.

In making known his pro-abortion stance, Obama has shown the world where his priorities lie. He would rather protect women who definitely have more capacity to protect themselves than an unborn, totally incapacitated, child in their wombs. He is more concerned with the reproductive health of women than with the life of the unborn and utterly defenseless child in their wombs. He is willing to give women the freedom of choice in terminating the life of an unborn, unprotected child in their wombs just to prevent or get rid of unhealthy and unwanted pregnancies. Obviously he prefers to protect and empower women because of their votes as against unborn, powerless children who are still political non-entities.

Sad to say but this is perhaps one of the blackest evil emanating from that center of world power ironically called the “white house”. Obama’s executive order has been described by the Vatican as the “arrogance of someone who believes he is right in signing a decree which will open the door to abortion and thus to the destruction of life”. Archbishop Rino Fisichella also looks at it as the “arrogance of a person who, having the power, thinks he can decide on life and death”. And the worst part is that Obama is bent on imposing his pro-abortion policy in foreign countries which are outside his domain.

At least Obama’s clear and straightforward stance on abortion has finally and definitely confirmed that “reproductive health” means nothing more and nothing less than universal access to abortion and that “population management” is just a euphemism for population control. These are the very subject of the HB 5043 or the RH bill now pending in the Lower House of Congress. Thus the authors and supporters of the bill can no longer deny that the bill promotes and provides for abortion. For this reason it cannot be enacted into law because abortion is a crime punishable by our Revised Penal Code as it is contrary to the Constitutional mandate that the State shall protect the life of the unborn from the moment of conception. Obama should perhaps be reminded that he can not impose his pro-abortion policy here for it is against our Constitution.

To be sure, this RH Bill was drafted by a foreign funded NGO called Philippine Legislative Committee for Population Development (PLCPD), one of the NGOs referred to by Obama promoting or providing abortion overseas that will now be directly receiving federal money. PLCPD has its offices at the very place where our laws are made — in the Batasan. Its main financiers are the International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF) and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, both staunch advocates of abortion. IPPF is the world’s largest provider of abortion and birth control devices. It is founded by Margaret Sanger, the foremost advocate of abortion in the US. It initiated the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), to sanitize the US’ direct backing of abortion in foreign countries and give it the appearance of international consensus for purposes of circumventing national governments. The Obama order will surely boost their finances.

Our legislators in the Lower House should therefore realize that they are committing culpable violation of our Constitution if they enact the RH bill into law. They should not be carried away by the Obamania sweeping the world. They are already among those considered responsible for institutionalizing the culture of corruption in our country. They should not be responsible anymore for introducing the culture of death by enacting that bill into law. It will only be invalidated by the Supreme Court under its power of judicial review, for being clearly unconstitutional.

(Note: Books containing compilation of my articles on Labor Law and Criminal Law (Vols. I and II) are now available. Call tel. 7249445.)

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