Prelate 'misleading' public on US Congress’ move vs RH bill - Lagman

A lawmaker who authored a version of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill in the House of Representatives on Monday accused an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) of “misleading" the public about the US Congress’ move against their own version of the measure. House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman debunked statements earlier made by CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life executive secretary Fr. Melvin Castro, who said that the country’s lower chamber should follow their American counterparts’ decision to “defund" their version of the RH bill. Lagman said that the US House of Representatives "did not withhold funds for family planning and contraceptive use" but instead "limited financial assistance to private entities performing abortions." "Fr. Melvin Castro of the CBCP is utterly misinformed about the US ‘defunding’ measure or he is conveniently misleading the public," Lagman said in a statement issued Monday. On Sunday, Castro appealed anew to lawmakers to reject the RH bill now up for plenary debates at the lower chamber after the US Congress supposedly decided to "defund" a federal family planning program. Lagman likewise reiterated that the consolidated RH bill in the House "does not in any way endorse abortion as a family planning method." "What it aims to achieve is the promotion of the right to reproductive health and reproductive self-determination by making available to couples who want to plan their families all forms of family planning options as long as they are legal, medically safe and effective," he said. The lower chamber’s version of the RH bill is currently awaiting plenary debates after it got the approval of the House population and appropriations committees. Highly-debated issue The RH bill has been highly debated by pro-life and pro-choice groups. The Catholic Church promotes only natural family planning and is opposed to the use of artificial birth control methods such as condoms and birth-control pills, saying these could lead to promiscuity and a rise in abortion cases. However, RH advocates maintain that natural family planning methods have not proven to be as reliable as artificial means of birth control. The bill seeks to guarantee "universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information." However, Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra said in December last year that according to Catholic teachings, any action that directly or indirectly destroys and kills life is against the Fifth Commandment ("Thou shall not kill") and is thus immoral. He claimed that the orientation of the RH bill is towards: