Wednesday, September 24, 2008 Militant women's group backs up reproductive health bill By Edmund B. Sestoso
TWO opposing groups in Negros Oriental are now taking turns defending and attacking the controversial reproductive health bill, which is now continually discussed at the House of Representatives.
While the local officialdom of the Roman Catholic Church sees the reproductive health bill as anti-life and unconstitutional, a women's group thinks otherwise.
The militant Gabriela women's group in Negros Oriental joined the calls in backing up the passage of the controversial reproductive health bill. The group defended the bill, claiming it will benefit its sector and the whole populace in the locality and elsewhere in the country.
Engineer Trelly Marigza, the militant women's chair, pointed out that the reproductive health bill embodies a responsibility for developing full capabilities of the family members and preserving the Filipino family as a bastion of spiritual growth and development agent of the country and its people.
"We affirm that family planning is the means to achieve the desired family size and proper birth spacing of children, and that the best maternal, infant and child health outcomes are achieved with three to five-year intervals between births" Marigza said.
Gabriela also affirmed the right of husband and wife to have information on and access to all safe, effective, and legal methods of family planning, reiterating that abortion is unacceptable as a means to plan families.
"A truly responsive family planning program prevents abortion and the rising number of teenage pregnancies which are two of the most significant health risks faced by Filipino women and is considered in the present reproductive health bill," the militant leader emphasized.
The group has called on the national and local governments to institute, where necessary, far reaching changes in their respective family planning policies and programs, specifically in reaching out to women, young people, the poor, the marginalized and those in extremely vulnerable situations such as street children, sex workers, and people living with disabilities.
Gabriela also called on the government to ensure universal access to affordable, safe and legally available family planning methods, services and information as well as ensuring the rights of couples and individuals to choose the most appropriate family planning methods based on the tenets of responsible parenthood, their culture, and their personal and religious beliefs.
According to the group, the government is obliged to provide and nurture an enabling environment for women and young people to exercise their rights and responsibilities over their sexual and reproductive lives; to be free from violence, coercion, and discrimination; to be fully involved in all levels of the decision making process; and to be able to effect positive changes; and promoting the rights of all adolescents - married and unmarried - to make informed choices and decisions on matters affecting their sexuality, health, and lives through effective, affordable, age-appropriate, and youth-friendly reproductive health services, as well as comprehensive sexuality education and information.
The group has also called on business leaders, labor unions, professional associations, private and public health providers, women's groups, informal sector, and urban and rural poor groups to be involved in activities to increase demand for and improve information and access to family planning services.
Not to be excluded in its call are the commercial pharmaceutical sector to make available affordable, safe, and effective methods of family planning for everyone.
To reach the maximum campaign, the militant group has called for a stronger alliance and partnership among all stakeholders such as non-government organizations (NGOs), people's organizations, the academe, research groups, policy makers, the private sector, and the civil society, that will strengthen links and partnerships with communities.
The group also called on the legislators to read, study, and pass the proposed reproductive health bill into law now to actualize people's rights to make informed decisions and ensure the highest quality of life.
