Miriam seeks to demolish key objections to divisive RH bill

Setting the stage for the Senate debate on the Reproductive Health Bill come Monday, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago sought to demolish the key objections oppositors have laid out to derail the measure’s passage. Santiago said in the last salvo of her sponsorship speech abortion will not be decriminalized when the RH bill is enacted. "Under the Penal Code, abortion is a crime, and it will remain a crime under the RH bill," Santiago said. She also pointed out that enactment of the measure will advance the welfare of women, protect women’s rights and prove the country’s adherence to international conventions and laws. The senator’s push for Senate Bill No. 2865, comes a day after President Benigno Aquino III certified as urgent, the enactment of a Responsible Parenthood bill. Paterno:
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV At the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting last Tuesday in Malacañang, Aquino called for "expeditious action" on the RH bill – formally known as the Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Bill. Certification as a priority, according to House Minority Leader Representative Edcel Lagman, will make certain the RH bill’s approval in the House “by a huge margin" as soon as it is tabled on the agenda for a vote. “Anytime tawagin ito [the voting], panalo na kami... With the endorsement of the President, mukhang lalaki ang margin namin," said Lagman, who belongs to the opposition in the Lower House. The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines still clings to some hope that anti-RH bill members of the House will be able to block the controversial measure. “I trust our congressmen especially from Cebu that they will be there to defend our stand for life, for God and of course for the sanctity of marriage," incoming CBCP president Archbishop Jose Palma said. Prelude to Senate debates In the Senate, the battle lines are still being drawn although some senators have already revealed their positions prior to the start of floor debates on Monday. Senator Vicente Sotto III indicated his dissent in the committee report on SB 2865 while Senator Aquilino Pimentel III is a member of the Couples for Christ which is strongly opposed to the RH bill. Senator Pia Cayetano and Senator Panfilo Lacson are authors of bills that were merged into the Senate’s RH bill. Senator Teofisto Guingona III, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, and Senator Joker Arroyo, and Senator Francis Pangilinan said they will “interpellate" when the bill is brought to their chamber’s floor for open debate. Guingona, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Senator Gregorio Honasan, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, and Senator Francis Escudero said they will introduce amendments. Honasan, Senator Franklin Drilon and Senator Ramon “Bong" Revilla said they have “reservations" about SB 2865 SB 2865 upholds right to life “Contraceptives are not abortifacients," Santiago added. She noted that the issue was laid to rest the 2006 deliberations on House Bill No. 4643, which sought to declare contraceptives as abortive. Santiago said a position paper released by the World Health Organization even categorically stated that "none of these methods have been shown to cause the abortion of an implanted fetus [and] therefore they cannot be labeled as abortifacients." Reduction of the incidents of abortion will result from the passage of the RH bill, according to the senator. "The Act will provide full information to any mother on the entire menu of family planning options, making it unnecessary for the mother to resort to abortion. Hence, pregnancy will result in a wanted child, not an unwanted child that the mother might be forced to abort," she said. Santiago cited a study by the Guttmacher Institute and UN Population Fund which said there were 3.371 million pregnancies in the country in 2008, of which 1.82 million were unintended. Of the unintended pregnancies, the senator said 570,000 women had induced abortions, 1 million had mistimed or unwanted births, 900,000 were hospitalized due to complications of abortions, while 3,700 died. Santiago said the same study cited the number of maternal deaths would be slashed by 70 percent if the world doubled investment in family planning and pregnancy-related cases. She argued that it will cost government only P3 billion a year to implement the RH law, whereas P21 billion is needed for the conditional cash transfer program. "This is considered modest. The RH program is simpler and less costly to administer," she said. Pro-RH legal arguments Santiago also emphasized the legal basis supporting the approval of the RH bill. "The right of the mother in the lowest social class is equal to the right of the mother in the highest social class. Thus, to make information on reproductive health accessible to the rich but not to the poor would be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause," she said. Santiago added the right to privacy also mandates or allows the implementation of the RH bill. "The right to privacy applies to sex, marriage, and procreation," she said. "The State has no power to forbid the use of contraceptives by adults. However, the State has the power to restrict the manufacture and sale of contraceptive devices to ensure that the products meet health, safety, and anti-abortion standards," she said. The senator cited the 1965 landmark case of Griswold v. Connecticut where the US Supreme Court held that Connecticut laws were "invalid" because they restricted the right of married persons to use contraceptive devices. Santiago also cited the 1972 case of Eisenstadt v. Baird where the US Supreme Court also invalidated a law which prohibited distribution of contraceptives to unmarried persons. Further, Santiago said it is the obligation of the Philippines to enact the RH bill because it is a party to international agreements enjoining the implementation of RH programs. She specifically cited the Proclamation of Teheran, the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. "If our country fails to discharge these obligations, we can be held liable under international law, and we run the risk of being branded as a rogue state, or as a pariah in the international community. That is what would happen if we fail to pass the RH bill," she said. — Kimberly Tan/Andreo Calonzo/LBG/KBK/ELR/VS, GMA News