THE Reproductive Health Bill promotes information on and access to both natural and modern family planning methods, which are medically safe and legally permissible. It also ensures an enabling environment where women have the freedom of informed choice on the mode of family planning they want to adopt based on their needs, personal convictions and religious beliefs.

The bottomline is informed choices. This means women and men are provided with the information to decide on their sexuality and sexual reproductive health, be able to make a more proactive measure in ensuring infant and child health, as well as enable adolescent and youth gain more control of their health.

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Reproductive health cannot be left alone in the hands of the men in the Catholic Church. Its discourse cannot be relegated to the myopic understanding of some legislators who discriminates and draws parallelism on sexual reproductive health and gay marriage. These are the same people who keep on convincing themselves by whining in public that they are far more virtuous and moral compared to those who are advocating for their reproductive health rights.

Information and access to reproductive health is inextricably linked to improving maternal health and child health. Studies show that most of the adolescents are at risk of sexually transmitted infection and unintended pregnancy. This is further compounded with the fact that many of our adolescents are less informed and uncomfortable in accessing reproductive health services than adults.

STIs also pose significant risk. The highest rates of infection for STIs, including HIV, are found among young people age 20 to 24; the next highest rate occurs among adolescents age 15 to 19. Each year, one out of every 20 adolescents contracts an STI, some of which can cause lifelong health problems if left untreated. When they attempt to obtain reproductive health information and services, they experience resistance and even hostility from adult health care providers. Gender inequities, particularly unequal power in relationships, may also limit their ability to seek reproductive health services.

For women ages 15 to 19, complications of pregnancy, childbirth and unsafe abortion are major causes of death. Along with increased exposure to STIs and unintended pregnancy, adolescent who engage in early sexual activity face social stigma, family conflict, potential for unsafe abortion and problems with their school. Others are more relegated to the sidelines because despite increasing attention to education, an estimated seven out of 10 girls remains out of school.

Pray tell, how should these challenges be addressed if not by information that will allow women to have full control over their bodies? Other than opposing the reproductive health bill, what concrete actions have been taken by the moral guardians in our community to address gender inequities and lack of control over resources and information?

When a woman dies from pregnancy related illnesses because she happens to lack the information to protect herself and when a woman is forced to undergo abortion either because she is too impoverished to raise another child or had been a victim of sexual violence, whose morals does that reflect? When more than half of the population is unable to live a humane life, and when a child is unable to go to school simply because resources are squandered by those in power, whose morality should be put in question? Email comments to roledan@gmail.com