Carvajal: Condoms

CONGRATULATIONS to Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral for pushing through with the distribution of free condoms despite strong opposition from Catholic bishops and priests who consider it “an affront to Catholic sensitivity.” The threat of a deadly HIV-Aids epidemic is real and it is the duty of a responsible Health department to put in place a reliable first line of defense such as the lowly condom.

Since the condoms are for free, people can of course choose not to accept them. If Catholics, therefore, think condoms are an affront to their moral sensitivity, then they should refuse to use condoms for protection. And if priests and bishops think Ca-tholics should not use condoms, then they should teach rich Catholics not to buy condoms and poor Catholics not to accept the free condoms of the government.

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It is quite unfair to poor Catholics (even more unfair to poor non-Catholics and poor non-believers) that rich Catholics, non-Catholics and non-believers should be free to purchase condoms to protect themselves from the virus while their poor brothers who can’t afford them are denied protection if Catholic bishops and priests succeed in stopping their free distribution.

Ours is a pluralistic society that constitutionally separates church and state. It means there is no official state church. It means all churches are on equal footing with the government.

In fairness to other churches, other religious groups and to non-believers in our midst, the government cannot stop a specific service that might hurt the sensitivity of one church, even if the latter represents the majority of believers.

The Catholic Church’s opposition to free condoms is as anti-poor as its opposition to the Reproductive Health Bill. Rich citizens, most of them Catholics, do not need free condoms or free contraceptives from the government because they can afford to buy them on their own. And many of them do buy and use condoms and artificial forms of birth control.

On the other hand, poor citizens, most of whom are also Catholics, can only avail of these health aids if government gives them out for free. To level the playing field, the government is willing to give them free condoms and free modern methods of birth control. Unfortunately for the poor, the Catholic Church wants nothing of the sort for them.

It is hoped here that government will not allow Catholic bishops and priests to have their way with condoms and the RH Bill.

Government must push through with free condoms and some brave lawmaker must re-file the RH Bill. Otherwise, expect the HIV-Aids epidemic to add to the poor’s problem of a staggeringly high infant and maternal death rate. And that is not a pro-life situation, not by a long shot.