The Culture of Life: The Reproductive Health Law vs The Gift of Life

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

Last December 22, President Aquino signed the Reproductive Health Bill into a law (RA 10354). There was no funfare and no press release was made. In fact if not for a media leak, the palace planned to announce it after the new year. During the house and senate vote the week before, as I was listening to the explanations of our representatives and senators, both pro and anti-RH Bill, I was appalled by the line of reasoning of many of them. Some of the arguments used by those who voted NO are shallow and self-serving, saying our economy is dependent upon OFW remittances and that we should populate the earth with Filipinos. While those who voted for YES have convinced themselves that too many Filipinos will be the destruction of our society, that the only way to solve poverty, prevent maternal and child death and espouse women's rights is to promote a contraceptive mentality amongst our people. They have convinced themselves that they are doing this for the Filipino women, exercising sovereignty and the separation of church and state by not being influenced by religion, yet are willing to be influenced by foreign funding agencies. They seem to have conveniently forgotten the fact that the RH Bill was introduced because the Philippines does not have an enabling law on population control, which is part of the requirement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of which the country is a signatory, the UN and the US (aka USAID). So what sovereignty are they talking about? They have misled the people into believing that this is a reproductive health law when in reality, it is a population control law.

Life is a gift from God. From the moment of conception, every human life is precious and every human life is sacred. Amidst all the rich variety of life on earth, human life is cause for special wonder. We alone can contemplate the beauty around us. We alone can create art and music and literature to express this beauty. We alone can love one another. And so, it is deplorable that there are people who are against life and seek to redefine, limit and destroy it. If we were not human upon conception, what were we then?

I cannot understand how government and policy makers can look upon human life as a threat to development. Is it not humanity who makes development possible? Family planning (FP) programs introduced in the country since the early 70's failed not because of the absence of an enabling law, not because of the influence of the Catholic Church, not because people are poor. It failed mainly because of lack of education, poor implementation and lack of access to health services and FP programs. A new law will not ensure implementation, more so when it is an unjust law. The government should instead focus on eliminating graft and corruption; provide jobs, low-cost housing, free health care and good education to all Filipinos. When you have all these in place, you limit if not totally eliminate poverty. Overpopulation is not the cause of poverty! And who can predict if the RH Bill's provisions will indeed control the population? If it fails...then can an abortion amendment be far behind? Proponents say this will never happen, but once there is an enabling law, it is fact that amendments can be easily made. Experience worldwide shows that once abortion is legalized, even in limited and extraordinary conditions, it becomes more widespread than was first intended because then, interpretation can become relative. I am truly horrified with the thought. Someone asked me why I am scaring myself with "future ghosts" when these are not realities yet. My answer was simple. With the deterioration of moral values in the world and it seems that now-a-days nothing is objectively right or wrong, who is to say that an amendment to allow abortion will not happen 20, 30, 40 or more years from now? Do we want to go the way of "developed" countries where human life has been devalued and disrespected?

Human life is beautiful...human beings should value each other, help one another, treat each other with respect from the moment of conception to the end of life.

If the RH Law says that Filipinos have a right to choose, then I choose not to obey this law that. After all, Obedience to God comes before obedience to man.