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Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Ruiz asks church: Am I not pro-life?
“IS IT wrong to protect the lives of women? Am I not being a pro-life person?”
Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, sixth district) so said in reaction to the awards given by the Archdiocese of Cebu to 20 legislators who support the Catholic Church’s pro-life and pro-family measures.
In a statement faxed to Sun.Star yesterday, Ruiz defended House Bill 4110, or the Reproductive Health Care Act, and said that it does not promote abortion.
Objectives
“What is sought in this bill is to prevent abortion and management of its complications,” she said.
Ruiz, who admitted taking an unpopular stand on the bill, also said that discussion about the House bill “should be centered and anchored on the issue of human rights.”
The bill, she said, even seeks to eliminate violence against women.
“I stand and set forth my voice as a woman, dignified and have transcended from our societal realities because after all, what I have done is to save the many lives of women and protected them from further abuse, exploitation and marginalization,” Ruiz added.
Reps. Jose Gullas (Cebu, 1st district), Simeon Kintanar (Cebu, 2nd district), Antonio Yapha (Cebu, 3rd district), Raul del Mar, (Cebu City, north district) and Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south district) were among the awardees in ceremonies held the other day.
They were among the legislators from different parts of the country who voted against bills favoring divorce, same sex unions and abortion.
No to abortion
Supporters of the bill had assured the Catholic Church that HB 4110 does not legalize abortion.
Although there is nothing in HB 4110 that expressly legalizes abortion, the church questioned the term reproductive health care because this suggests access to artificial birth control methods using “abortifacients.”
“Sometimes, issues such as this would not be clearly understood because we are clouded by our own prejudices and biases to the detriment of the general welfare of the people,” Ruiz said.
“Providing family planning information and services does not in any manner abort life! It only provides a mechanism for child spacing, bearing and rearing and would not impose on anything but rather give a free and an informed choice,” she added. AAG
(March 24, 2004 issue)
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