RH proponents push for bill’s passage in House plenary

Proponents of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill at the House of Representatives on Tuesday pushed for the passage of the measure at the lower chamber’s plenary. House Minority Floor Leader Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said House Bill 4244, or “The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act," will “make every woman and child truly count." “The RH bill is rights-based, and central to the measure is freedom of informed choice. Consistent with freedom of choice, this bill has no specific demographic targets. It is not a population control measure," Lagman said during his sponsorship speech on Tuesday afternoon. Lagman likewise maintained that the controversial measure does not promote abortion, but instead “pre-empts Congress and the Supreme Court from legalizing abortion."
Gabriela Women’s party-list Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan meanwhile said that the measure will “ensure that health care is provided to our people in all stages of the life cycle." “HB 4344 is a measure whose approval and implementation become more imperative as poverty, unemployment, skyrocketing prices of commodities, increase in cost of sending children to school, the high cost of medicines and health services, make more maternal health care more inaccessible to the underprivileged sectors of society," Ilagan said in her speech. She likewise pointed out that passing the RH bill will ensure that skilled birth attendants will be designated to each barangay to attend to pregnant women, and that employers provide reproductive health services to all employees. Akbayan party-list Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, for her part, said the Lower House should immediately approve HB 4344 because “majority of Filipinos are eagerly awaiting the passage of the bill." “The debate is not about who’s pro-life or pro-choice. As members of the House of Representatives, as the voice of the people, the debate is about who’s willing to listen to the people and who wish to turn their backs to this truth: there is a consistent and overwhelming demand for reproductive health programs and services," Bag-ao said. The start of House deliberations on the controversial RH bill was stalled for two hours on Tuesday afternoon after the measure's opponents raised the need to check for quorum and delivered a privilege speech, seemingly to “delay" the debates. (See: Questions of quorum, dress code stall RH bill debates in House) A majority of all House members is needed to pass the RH bill at the lower chamber and for it to be transmitted to the Senate. The Senate can either pass its own version of the bill or adopt the bill passed by the House. After this, the bicameral conference committee will be convened to reconcile the respective versions of the House and Senate. After the reconciled bill is ratified by the House and Senate, it will then be submitted to Malacañang for the President's signature.—JV, GMA News