Multi-sector group supports responsible parenthood bill

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A multi-sector group has rallied the public for support of the Responsible Parenthood -Reproductive Health (RP-RH) bill, during a forum held in this city the other day.

"Pass the RP-RH Bill now!" said Eden Divinagracia, executive director of Philippine Non-Government Organizations Council (PNGOC), as she led the chanting at the Caribbean Water Park and Resotel here.

The forum was held by the PNGOC in partnership with the Commission on Population, Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc, Forum for Family Planning and Development, Inc., and Reproductive Health Advocacy Network.

PNGOC is an umbrella organization of 95 national and local NGOs working in the field of reproductive health, population, policy advocacy, non-formal education and other development fields.

Divinagracia said that, contrary to information being spread by opposing groups, the RP-RH Bill does not advocate abortion through the use of modern family planning methods. "It's about time the bill should be passed, after languishing in Congress for nine years, so Filipinos can have an "informed choice" on maternal health care, considering that it promotes the right to health and sustainable human development," she said.

"In the Philippines, 11 women die every day from pregnancy and birth complications. Most of these deaths are preventable though effective family planning. And in the meantime that RP-RH Bill is hanging there in Congress waiting to be passed, the deaths continue," she said.

"The RP-RH Bill is genuinely pro-women, pro-poor and pro-life. It is essential to the promotion of women's overall health," the PNGOC said in a statement, adding that the bill address the country's reproductive health condition, promotes reproductive rights of women and couples, sets it at the national level, and integrates it into family planning, and development plans and programs.

The PNGOC cited statistics to support the rationale behind passing the bill. It reported that more than 4,000 Filipino women die from maternal complications every year, and around 2,000 of these are unreported, involving mostly poorest-of-the-poor women delivering birth unattended by skilled attendants.

Also, there are 8,000 babies who do not survive the first month of life, every year. It further reported that 46 percent of the 3.1 million childbirths are unplanned or unwanted, and contraceptive use, especially of modern methods, is low among poor women. Unwanted pregnancy causes 400,000 induced abortion every year, and many women having induced abortion are poor, married, and Catholic, it added.

In the Philippines, the population is about to hit the 100-million mark, as the current 94 million is still growing rapidly at 2.01 percent rate, it added. About 3.5 percent of Filipino women have children more than their desired number of children, and 17.3 percent of women have unmet need for family planning, it added. There are 2.6 million poor Filipino women who want to plan their families but are unable to do so because they lack information on and access to family planning services.

Divinagracia said the RP-RH Bill will increase awareness and access to appropriate and affordable quality RH services; provide accurate education and counseling on legal and medically-safe family planning methods; provide maternal care services; increase male involvement in RH; prevent abortion and manage post-abortion complications; prevent and treat reproductive diseases; teach human sexuality and responsible parenthood in schools and workplaces; address RH needs of adolescents, the poor, women in prostitution, differently-abled persons, women and children in war crisis situations; and ensure adequate RH supplies, facilities and equipment.

The PNGOC said the bill is anchored on the principle that everyone has the right to reproductive self-determination: should a couple decide to plan and space their children.

"At the heart of the bill is the freedom of informed choice. Neither the State nor the Church has the authority to tell the people or the faithful what family planning to adopt." (FREEMAN)