It is easy to promote life. It is the first official teaching of the Church—the first principle of Canon law—that Bishop Leandro Medroso, council member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), would like to ‘investigate immediately’ anybody against it. The House Bill 4244 will just ‘create a culture of irresponsibility,’ ‘threaten constitutional rights,’ and ‘weaken commonly shared human and spiritual values.’
It is easier to limit it. Sacred life begins at fertilization and not at implantation, maintained Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas S. J., a columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The House Bill 4244 will just empower couples and prevent teenage pregnancy, ‘which is as real as the number of young girls dying from pregnancy related deaths.’
It is easiest to communicate. A recent conversation with a friend (who thinks the RH Bill is necessary) reminded me of my PEHM teacher when I was in third year high school. Right after our class discussion about the different family planning methods, she disclosed to us why she and her husband just had a son after seven years. “We communicate,” she had said.
There are facts. 100 million Filipinos. 4 babies born every minute. P500 million worth of contraceptives. There are also arguments. Every person counting in the ‘arithmetic of population statistics.’ Sexual pleasure as a human right. Poor women not affording medical care.
In that case, I could not but join my friend in his ‘pro-RH’ stance. For a different reason, that is. Let the bill turn into a law so that not only a few would realize that no method of contraception could curb the Filipino population. It is what my PEHM teacher and her husband do every time the lights go out in their room at night.
