Another Chapter

Turning a blind eye is an Editorial Feature of Atenews Vol. 54 No. 2. Copyright. Atenews 2008

The directive of Ozamiz Archbishop Jesus Dorado to his archdiocese in the form of a pastoral letter instructing his clergy to deny communion to the proponents of the RH Bill (otherwise known as “An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development”) make us wonder if his moral compass is malfunctioning.

With their condemnation of the contraceptives and the labeling of the proponents of the RH Bill as “abortionists” and “godless”; we now ask: Is the church blind to the various problems circling like vultures over our ballooning population? Is the church playing dumb to the staggering statistics of abortions due to unplanned and unwanted pregnancies?

The RH Bill does not in any way condone abortions. In fact, according to Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of the RH, “We have repeatedly said in the bill that abortion is illegal, punishable, and not part of the menu for responsible parenthood and population management.: The RH Bill classified abortion as “illegal” and will still be punishable under the revised penal code. Furthermore, the bill only seeks to cater to reproductive health by giving people access to adequate and effective family planning methods.

Comparing abortion to contraception demands great leaps of logic. Abortion is the termination of an innocent fetus in a mother’s womb. Contraception, on the other hand is the prevention of pregnancy. The lack of logic by the church is a clear demonstration of mistaking apples for oranges.

If this is so, why is the church so insistent on prohibiting the passing of the RH Bill? Why are they denying the proponents of the RH Bill communion when the real proponents of grave evils such as corruption, cheating, lying and stealing are on a Sunday church?

Another question: Since the church favors the calendar method (rhythm) as a means of family planning, what is its problem in approving other methods to prevent childbirth? According to Cristine Gudorf, author of the book “Body, Sex and Pleasure”; Pope Pius XII in 1954 laid the foundation for changes in the Catholic teaching when he permitted the Rhythm method. He pondered on what methods he could use to prevent childbearing and eventually he did bless contraception in principle by permitting the Rhythm method. He even said that there could be multiple reasons to avoid having any children at all in a marriage.

Is it because the other means of preventing childbirth is unnatural? If we are going to define what is natural or not, then how can one explain the rhythm method when one deliberately measures the time when a woman is fertile to avoid pregnancy as natural?

The bishops should understand the reason why our country needs a population plan through a solid and effective legislation like the RH bill. The issue here is not stopping pregnancies; it is balancing resources with our growing population and improving the quality of life. If one of the Church’s doctrines is safeguarding the dignity of life then the church needs to answer this: where is the dignity of life in a growing population in which an ever increasing amount of people are going hungry and young children are out there sniffing rugby and begging for alms? Where is the dignity in that?

In the meantime, the absence of an aggressive policy towards reproductive health contributes to the growing 1.4 million unplanned pregnancies in the country in which one-third lead to abortions.

With these problems tied to the growing population of the Philippines; we repeat our stand. The church is obviously blind to the problems surrounding the lack of aggressive Reproductive Health policies. We do hope that somehow, their perspectives would change.

Wew. That was tiring. Anyway, I’ve read this article like twice already. Yeah, don’t ask why there is a picture of the president at the back of a bishop while the bishop is blabbering on a condom with the label “Pro Reproductive Health Bill”. I admit, I did blabber this here at home while the issue is still hot. Why is the church very hesitant to prohibit this bill? Did they know what is inside the bill? Did they label condoms and other contraceptives as aborting a child? Do they have anything to contribute when the population bursts above the threshold level?

So much questions yet only a tidbit or few can be answered. In my opinion, I favor the RH bill. Why? Because with the RH bill, families are given the chance to explore a new way of controlling pregnancies. Beside the rhythm method which Pope Pius XII approved way back in 1954. The pope said, “there could be multiple reasons to avoid having any children at all in a marriage.” Which I think, includes contraceptives.

To those who are reading and wondering what is contraceptives, contraceptives, as what the Wikipedia defined as birth control. It is a regimen of one or more actions, devices, or medications followed in order to deliberately prevent or reduce the likelihood of pregnancy or childbirth.

In that term, where is the abortion in that? Abortion is defined as the termination of the life of the child inside the womb of the mother. Abortion is classified as illegal and you could be punished if you’re gonna abort the child. I hope the church would do something to understand why there is a need to control pregnancies. As what the articles stated, “the lack of logic is a clear demonstration of mistaking apples for oranges.” It is clear in the law that the church and the state should be separated. The church could interfere with the state if and only if, the state is in a grave danger. There is no harm in using contraceptives such as condoms. One can enjoy making love with his/her partner without thinking of pregnancy.

Turning a Blind Eye by Atenews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

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