CBCP hints at pullout from RH bill talks

After issuing a strongly worded pastoral statement against the reproductive health bill on Monday, Catholic bishops hinted they may pull out of dialogues with Malacañang on the issue. The head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said bishops will decide after their next meeting with Palace officials whether it is “futile" to continue such discussions. “Probably in the next meeting, the two panels will decide whether it is futile to go on or there is still hope," CBCP president and Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar said in an article posted Monday night on the CBCP news site. This as the committee on population and family relations at the House of Representatives on Monday unanimously approved a consolidated version of the reproductive bill, which means, for the first time since the measure was filed in 1998, it will now be deliberated upon at the plenary. The bill seeks to guarantee "universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information."

Responsible Parenthood The CBCP and the Aquino administration have been holding talks on reproductive health, with President Benigno Aquino III trying to arrive at a win-win solution with his own “Responsible Parenthood" bill. But the CBCP on Monday branded the “Responsible Parenthood" bill as just a “new name" for the reproductive health bill that it has been opposing. Catholic bishops are vocal against the reproductive health bill because of its open stance on contraception. The Catholic Church favors only natural family planning. “Again, it is a possibility. (But) at this point in time, we have not yet agreed to pullout. We have to still make formal agreement from this dialogue," Odchimar said of the chances the CBCP may pull out of the talks. In a pastoral letter released at the conclusion of the CBCP’s plenary assembly, bishops expressed sadness over how the talks have been going on. Malacañang insists on its pro-choice stance and clarified that its proposed “Responsible Parenthood" bill is only to reduce poverty and not as a birth control policy. Going nowhere? On the other hand, Church officials said recent dialogues on the reproductive health bill show the talks are seemingly going nowhere. The prelates are also dismayed over Malacañang’s claims that it already reached consensus with the CBCP in so far as the provisions of its bill are concerned and that the Church is not against it. “Therefore, instead of building false hopes, we wish at the present time to draw up clearly what we object to and what we stand for," said the CBCP. In a pastoral statement, the CBCP urged the government not to equate poverty with population, or seek to address poverty with a “reproductive health" agenda. “We commend our efforts against the RH bill (or the Responsible Parenthood bill — its new name) to the blessing of our almighty and loving God, from whom all life comes and for whom it is destined," it said. The CBCP also scored what it called the railroading of the reproductive health bill, and the pushing of compulsory sex education. It also echoed the challenge it “prophetically" uttered 25 years ago at EDSA I and call on all people to share its conviction to “pray together, reason together, decide together, act together, always to the end that the truth prevails over the many threats to human life and to our shared human and cultural values." “As religious leaders we have deeply and carefully reflected on this burning issue. We have unanimously made the moral judgment to reject the RH agenda and to choose life," it said. The CBCP also reminded the State of its constitutional responsibility to respect human rights and uphold and strengthen the family. - KBK, GMANews.TV