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Reese: Make an informed choice on the RH Bill

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By Niklas Reese
Saturday, May 14, 2011

More Sections The RH bill is explicitly underlining that it respects that abortion is illegalized in the Philippines. A
defensive measure seemingly necessary where moralism is allowed to ignore empirical evidence.
Local News
Opinion FOR months now the discussion on the passage of a Reproductive Health Bill haunts the
Philippines. From a European perspective it appears odd to me: Compared with the way
Business
Reproductive Health issues are legislated upon elsewhere in the world, the draft of the bill is
Sports
quite tame. And even made tamer by the voluntary amendments being proposed by the
Feature
authors themselves. I tend to think: Why does it cost the Philippines so much effort to go the
Lifestyle way most societies in the world went in making their RH-legislation more apt to the realities of
Entertainment modern societies and more women-friendly?

But what appears even more odd to me, is the highly moralized way of arguing from the side of
the staunch opponents. As a democrat, I do not question that opinions are uttered which are not consistent with
mine. As a social scientist though, I expect opinions to be based on empirical evidence instead of running amok by
calling standpoints of others than their own “terrorist” atbp. Empirical evidence though is clearly ignored in the
arguments against the RH bill. See the notorious Alabang Ordinance banning birth control devices, which indeed
believes that contraceptives “undermine the solidarity of families, [are] promoting premarital sex, giving rise to more
fatherless children, more single mothers, more poverty, and more abortions (…) [and] promote and sanction
immoral sexual congresses among the unmarried and especially among the young”. I would like to see any
empirical evidence for these claims. If there are, I believe that empirical evidence would rather prove the opposite
rather than validate most of these claims!

Studies have proven worldwide that the use of

contraceptives does not lower the number of WANTED
children. And that appropriate sex education even delays
the “first time,” as young people are more aware of the
consequences and learn that there may be other ways of
expressing love and living out lust than penetrative sex.
Keeping young people in ignorance does not keep them
from having sex! Forex: US$ 1.00 = PhP 43.187

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Reese: Make an informed choice on the RH Bill | Sun.Star

In Africa the discouragement of condoms has led to an

AIDS pandemic. Given its current stance, does the Philippine Lotto Results Superlotto 6/49 16-42-04-33-03-35
Philippines really believe it will be spared from this Swertres Lotto 11AM 8-3-7
forever? In Germany the National Health Education office
is for two decades now actively promoting the use of Swertres Lotto 4PM 8-4-0
condoms. (Cf. www.bzga.de/home/key-topics-and-fields- Swertres Lotto 9PM 1-1-8
of-work/aids-and-sti-prevention) This has lead to the fact
that HIV/AIDS never got to be a large-scale problem even amongst promiscuous people (And Filipinos and Filipinas EZ2 Lotto Luzon 9PM 04-21
are not less promiscuous than Europeans. Or: Europeans are not as promiscuous as people here may believe.) More Results
The RH bill is explicitly underlining that it respects that abortion is illegalized in the Philippines. A defensive measure
seemingly necessary where moralism is allowed to ignore empirical evidence.

I for my part do not support abortion. But it is simply a matter of fact that in some desperate situations, women
resort to this measure no matter if it’s criminalized or not. To decide for an abortion is always an act of desperation
and hardly an easy decision. Transportation Machineries
General Items Services
In the Philippines 500,000 women underwent abortion in 2008. The total ban on abortion did not hinder them to do
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so. But it forced them to undergo this procedure under clandestine and unsafe conditions. 80,000 to 90,000
women are hospitalized annually for post-abortion care. And 1,000 lose their lives every year. Sectarians may call it
the wrath of God, a human rights perspective considers this an attack on the right to health of all these women.

Since 1992, Germany allows abortions within the first 3 months of pregnancy. The only - albeit decisive -
requirement: Women who are considering to abort have to take up a mandatory consultation on whatever
alternatives might exist aside from aborting. The result: The number of abortions even decreased! The German
experience shows that it is not illegalization which lowers the number of abortions, but an un-alarmistic
consultation with mothers-to-be and the setting up of child-friendly measures like affordable whole day care
facilities and other state support for parents.

But going back to the RH-bill: Affordable and accessible contraception would make many of the performed
abortions preventable – studies say up to 85% of all abortions can be prevented by the correct and regular use of
contraceptives. (Just like empowering women to say NO! A study by the governmental Philippine Commission on
Population came to the conclusion that most abortions result from forced sex within relationships and by
pressuring women to become pregnant against their will for instance by refusing to use a condom.)

If the Catholic hierarchy expects from its members to refrain from contraceptive measures and have sex only with
the aim of procreation [(-:], then it is up to church members to challenge the policy of the association they belong
to. But a modern state should not act as auxiliary police for the Catholic Church in enforcing its policy on its
members. And it is yet another story if a pluralist state allows a particular group to enforce its policy on all its
citizens – like Protestants. Here I agree with Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, March 14 2011)
who calls this an “attempt by a sector of the Catholic Church to instrumentalize the power of the state to impose
Catholic belief on all others. This is something which gives the Catholic religion a bad name.”

Modern democracy includes minority rights and is more than the blatant rule of the majority. Notwithstanding that
the policy of the Catholic hierarchy does not even reflect the will of the majority (85% Roman Catholics in the
country) which it claims to represent. Around 70% of the Pinoys and Pinays are supporting the RH bill and only 7%
oppose it, says a Pulse Asia survey from November 2010.

Evoking “eternal truth” in a public debate, as the Catholic hierarchy does, has no place outside of church premises
in a democracy. Democracy builds on the premise that in a pluralist society “truth” is an act of communication and
not of revelation. It therefore can only be agreed upon in public discourse and decided upon in voting. And
discourse theory claims that arguments raised here must bear comparison with empirical evidence!
*****

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Reese: Make an informed choice on the RH Bill | Sun.Star

Niklas Reese is a researcher from the University of Bonn (Germany) presently based in the Philippines. For
more than 12 years he is writing and researching on Philippine issues. He always believed that reproductive
health is an issue men should feel as responsible for as women.

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on May 15, 2011.

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