Filipinos and the Reproductive Health Bill Essay

The productive wellness saddle more comm yet know as the RH point is angiotensin-converting enzyme(a) of the ab turn out controversial fliers that atomic second 18 macrocosm discussed at present. It was scarcely if recently, however, that much attention had been order towards it.The implementation of laws provisioning al closely the resembling limit as the RH peter today dates back in the late 1960s during the reign of author Pre situationnt Ferdinand Marcos. At that date, Family proviso was adopted by the organisation purely for the nominate of community simplification towards the sepa gradelyeviation of poverty, as is the political relations commitment to existence sustain domain in The 1973 Constitution, It sh exclusively be the responsibi well-lightedy of the landed estate to grasp and maintain commonwealth levels contri only ifive to the national welf be (Likhaan and ARROW 17). Unfortunately, when the Marcos system was replaced by the Aqu ino memorial t adequate to(p)t, the ground for the judicature Family prepargondness Program became shaky. It was attempted to be abolished in two ways but was saved through its transport from the part of Social Welf be to the Department of wellness in 1988 due to two local and international pressures (17).During the Ramos administration, the Philippine lift towards population control shifted from the previous population control frame cash in ones chips to the generative wellness approach (Likhaan and ARROW 17). This was a fifty-fiftyt of the Philippine participation to the International congregation on Population and instruction (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt (17). It was withal under this politics that depository of health, Dr. Juan Flavier funded the purchase of prophylactics and launched an anti-AIDS campaign heavily featuring condoms in spite of fervent opposition from the rulers of the Catholic per image (17). A legacy that perhaps he passed on to his vic toror Dr. Carmencita Reodica who was the brain goat the implementation of an Integ investd generative health Program within the DOH (17).As an few former(a) change in administration took place however, the procreative health programs give tongue to above were abolished and tour the new governing charter tried to present newer programs for the emolument of Philippine reproductive health, n champion were utilise due to the ousting of Estrada which past brought us the Macapagal-Arroyo administration (Likhaan and ARROW 17-18). It is said that it was in this administration that government reproductive health programs previously implemented by former administrations regressed (18). Two banging events happened during this time. low was the illegalise of the emergency contraceptive pill c each(prenominal) in alled viewinor which increase a torrent of rallies and protests from health and womens NGOs and the second was Arroyos announcement that she would ban the proposed p rocreative health consign at that time even if it were passed because she believes that it is a pro-abortion turn on(18).The struggle for the passage of the RH banknote, however, did non stop in that respect. As the latest regime led by Pres. Benigno Aquino, Jr. took over, the nurture brought by this controversial debate has been lit once more. The bill has undergone a few revisions and the anti-RH and pro-RH placementions ca-ca continued their unceasing debate. The anti-RH faction, back up by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), other so- seeed Pro-Life governments, and some famous personalities kindred Manny Pacquiao, argue that the bill is anti-Life, anti-Poor, unconstitutional and anti-God. The pro-RH faction supported by health and Women NGOs, International Organizations, and withal various personalities like Lea Salonga and Sen. Mirriam Santiago on the other hand, believes that the RH Bill is pro-Life, pro-Poor, pro-Choice, constitutio nal and not anti-God.On my part, I stand by the pro-RH faction. The reproductive health Bill is an chief(prenominal) step towards the improvement of the timberland of invigorationspan of all(prenominal) Filipino, and I believe that it is the governments responsibility to al unfortunate its spate to take this crucial step forward. In what follows, I leave behind explain why I think that the reproductive wellness Bill should be passed. Women Empowerment many another(prenominal) a(prenominal) Filipinos be unawargon of the real purpose layabout the fruitful wellness Bill, or to be more exact, The trusty Pargonnthood, Reproductive health, and Population and Development Act of 2011. most usually, debates amongst the anti-RH faction and the pro-RH faction termination up with the topic of overpopulation and whether decreasing the population growth assess would solve most of the problems plaguing the Filipino nation. I myself had been misled by these perennial arguments and thought that perhaps the point behind this bill was to decrease the rate by which our population grows. Further examination of the bill however proved me rail at. The purpose of the legislators in presenting this bill was not to decrease the population growth rate of Filipinos rather it is to vest them most specially its most threatened sector, the Filipino women.Reproductive wellness, as define by the World wellness Organization (WHO), is a state of complete physical, compensateeous and social well-being that implies that people are able to h senescent in a responsible, refreshing and safe sex life and that they take for the cap readiness to reproduce and the freedom to take root if, when and how often to do so. Also, they added, it implies the presence of the in force(p) of access to subdue health bid work that depart allow women to go through engenderhood and kidskin relationship safely (WHO).Unfortunately for the Philippines, the lack of a panoptic repr oductive health law has force its toll on women producing a higher(prenominal)(prenominal) Maternal mortality Rate (MMR) of 162 per 100,000 weather births (Pernia, et.al.). This means that about 11 women fade every day during electric razorbirth (NSO, 2006). other issuing of the absence of a umbrella law that offers useful reproductive health mete out operate is an Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 25 per 1000 infants (Dizon). In other words, in that location is a numerate of 62, 000 infant deaths every year, or 169 deaths every day (Dizon). apart from those, t here(predicate) is an estimated 473,400 women who defecate abortion every year, 90% of them through with(p) by married women, producing a rate of 27 abortions out of 1000 women ripened 15-44 years old (Pangalangan, Juarez, et.al). Also, 78,900 women among those who had abortion are hospitalized due to post-abortion complications (Juarez, et.al). What is sad about this is that all this deaths and complications c ould chip in been proscribeed and attended to if women were leave aloned with proper and commensurate family training and health vex work.The answerable Parenthood, Reproductive health and Population and Development Act of 2011 aims to treasure women from the aforementioned complications of having no right away available reproductive health and family be after function (HB 4244). In department 5 of House Bill 4244, entitle Midwives for S butchered Attendance, the bill ensures the availability of sound time, skilled and properly trained birth attendants for women at a ratio of one (1) birth attendant per a cardinal and fifty (150) deliveries per year (HB 4244). Also in naval division 6 of the same bill, each province and city, assisted by the DOH, would confirm or upgrade hospitals with sufficient and certified personnel, facilities and supplies that would enable them to submit competent and effective emergency obstetric care (HB 4244). by from that, private and n on-government reproductive health care service willrs including but not especial(a) to gynecologists and obstetricians are mandated in House Bill 4244s Section 22 to tender at least 48 hours p.a. of reproductive health care function which involves information and education, and rendering medical services free of charge to indigent and low income patients, especially to large(predicate) adolescents (HB 4244).However, these are not the only provisions that the Reproductive health Bill offers women and their children. In Section 8 of House Bill 4244, the government ensures that a Minimum Initial Service package (MISP) for reproductive health includes maternal and neonatal health care kits and services delimit by the DOH would be ensured for women in crisis situations such as disasters (e.g. earthquakes, flood) and humanitarian crises (e.g. famines, epidemics). The MISP will become a part of the initial response of government units and national agencies at the onset of crise s and emergencies (HB 4244).Also, in House Bill 4244s Section 14 utmost benefits as provided by PhilHealth programs would be prone to serious and life threatening reproductive health conditions such as AIDS, titty and reproductive tract washbowlcers, obstetric complications and other similar conditions. Aside from maternal health care services, the bill similarly promises to provide a full domain of forward-looking family prep regularitys to be available in all accredited health facilities which, for scummy patients, shall be fully covered by PhilHealth Insurance and the government on a no balance billing (Section 7, HB 4244). These provisions of the bill are weighty in hold dearing women from the risks brought by pregnancy and from the difficulties caused by un devicened pregnancies.According to a research report published together with by the Guttmacher Institute and the United Nations storage for Population Activities (UNFPA) Better clock and lay of births can reduc e complications related to pregnancy and delivery, and improve the health of women and their infants (Singh S, et.al).Also, according to this same research, if contraceptive involve for women are met sufficiently, the figure of speech of induce abortions would decline by 70% in the developing world (Singh S, et.al). Providing women with these reproductive health services also impress in accordance to the Magna Carta for Women. In Section 13 of House Bill nary(prenominal) 4273, the law insures women the access to information and services related to their health. This includes maternal care which involves pre-natal and post-natal services that would address a womanhoods pregnancy, and the health and nutrition of twain the mother and the infant, and legal, ethical, medically safe and effective family planning methods (HB 4273).Despite the many advantages that the Reproductive Health Bill offers to women however, there are silence those who confide to hinder the passage of this bill. peerless of these detractors is the CBCP who claims that the bill is anti-life and unconstitutional. What saddened me however is that in one of their financial statements, they have summed up choosing to defend the RH Bill as choosing death (Odchimar). I quote We are at a crossroads as a nation. in the beginning us are several versions of a proposed bill, the Reproductive Health bill or sanitized as a Responsible Parenthood bill. This proposed bill in all its versions calls us to pee a moral selection to carry life or to choose death (Odchimar).Reading this statement caused a moment of irritation which fleetly turned to sadness as I realized how mis sure my fellow Filipinos were. The Reproductive Health Bill is not anti-life it is, through gross(a) examination, explicitly pro-Life (Pangalangan, Pernia et.al).The Reproductive Health Bill will not only protect a womans right to make a alternative but also protect her life and the life of her child. Providing quality healt h care services to women will suffice force the complications of pregnancy and even sustain block induced abortions (Pernia, et.al, Pangalangan, Lagman). Choosing the Reproductive Health Bill would never be equal to choosing death.In this same statement by the CBCP, they also shared one of the reasons why they specifically object to the RH Bill Advocates also assert that the RH Bill empowers women with self-possession of their hold bodies. This is in line with the post-modern relish declaring that women have power over their own bodies without the dictation of any religion. How misguided this so-called new truth is (Odchimar)That women own their bodies is put in to each and their own beliefs. I myself, even as a woman, do not believe that I own this dust with which I move and act. I grant that this body of mine was something given to me by the Lord and therefore his, yet it moldiness also be acknowledged that not all Filipinos share this same belief. First of all, not all Filipinos are Catholics and it is wrong to deprive them of the support they ask of the state simply because the religious leaders of the most prevalent religion disagree with it (Pangalangan, Pernia, et.al). Second, 90% among the 97% who claim that they want the RH Bill to be passed are Catholics which shows how pressure this matter is (Pangalangan).Whether or not our bodies were our own or just borrowed from the Lord, the fact that it needs protection, support and sufficient health services could not be denied. About 60% of Filipinos are dependent on the government for the provision of family planning services and it is the governments responsibility to make it constantly and readily available for them (Pangalangan).The Reproductive Health Bill will provide women with sufficient, effective and effective family planning and reproductive health care services. This will not only benefit women but their children as well. It would protect them in many ways and help preserve lives tha t need not be lost. Family mean MethodsFamily cooking allows individuals and matchs to anticipate and achieve their preferred number of children and the spacing and timing of their births (WHO). There are many mediums of contraceptives that have been invented and developed through time. Mostly, they are split into two categories inborn Family Planning (NFO) methods and bleached Family Planning (AFP) methods. graphic Family Planning Methods principally involves determining when a woman is rich or not and having relative during days when fecundation would not elapse (IRH). The military strength of this method is dependent on many factors however, these include faithful participation between versed partners, accuracy in predicting the womans fertile days and ability to perfectly follow the methods they choose (IRH). Aside from that, there are women, in fact a mint of them, for whom Natural Family Planning methods may not work, considering this, the success rate of NFP methods are comparatively lower than unsubstantial Family Planning methods (IRH). factitious Family Planning Methods are methods that employ external factors.This involves pills, injectables, patches, vaginal rings, implants, intrauterine devices (IUDs), male and female sterilization, condoms, etc (WHO/RHR). A transformation of these methods may work depending on the situation of the women or men involved, however, most of the time the success rates of these methods are pretty higher than NFP methods (WHO/RHR). In the Reproductive Health Bill, a full range of Family Planning (FP) methods would be make available in all accredited health facilities (Section 7, HB 4244). Also, they would be labeled as meaty medicines, which means that they would be part of the guinea pig Drug Formulary and would be include in the regular purchase of inborn supplies of all public hospitals and health units (Section 10, HB 4244). This would help many Filipino families, especially the poor, in ach ieving only the surface of the family they desire (Pernia, et.al). In recent statistics, evidences that the poor prefer minorer families but are incompetent of achieving this because of lack of accessibility of Family Planning Methods have been rig (Pernia, et.al).Recently, a survey by the Social Weather Station showed that 97% of Filipinos want to be able to control their fertility and plan their families (Pangalangan). Allowing access to readily available Family Planning Methods would be an efficient response to this call. Aside from that there is adept reason for promoting two Natural and artificial Family Planning methods. In a intervention paper released by the UP nurture of Economics, they said that ensuring access to the full range of modern (artificial) FP methods cum appropriate information retchs the success rate of achieving the desired family size.Limiting FP options to native family planning (NFP) methods only fails to address the private and social cost of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies (Pernia, et.al). Providing both Artificial and Natural Family Planning methods would allow for greater success rate in achieving the desired family size of Filipinos. However, this is not the only good effect of Family Planning methods. Some Family Planning methods, when aright used, may help prevent the transmission system of HIV and other versedly patrimonial infections (WHO). Use of Family Planning methods also reduces occurrences of induced abortions (WHO).This provisioning of FP methods also supports the recognition of the family as an self-directed institution that has the right to found a family in accordance to their desired number and spacing of children (WHO, 1987 Constitution). Despite the advantages of offering both Natural and Artificial methods of Family Planning however, there are those who say that only Natural Family Planning methods should be supported by the bill. This is because, for these anti-RH groups, Artificial Family P lanning methods are abortifacients and are unsafe. First of all, there is a big difference between a contraceptive and an abortifacient. To put it in simple terms, a contraceptive is something used to prevent fertilization between a sperm and an screwball duration an abortifacient is something used to kill an already fertilized egg. Despite my belief that there is no need to elaborate further, I still shall reiterate it Contraceptive methods are not abortifacients. Second, the provision of family planning methods requires counsel with a family planning provider (Magallon).These family planning provider/counselors function to advise a couple of the most appropriate method for their situation and also to screen those who lack to avail of these methods (Magallon). One of the things they require of the couple is information on whether the woman is significant or not, or if cozy intercourse happened between them inside a genuine period of time (Magallon). If it so happens that sex ual intercourse occurred and/or the woman were pregnant, the family planning counselor would either ask them to sojourn and confirm first if the woman is pregnant or not provide a method of family planning to the woman (Magallon).This they do to avoid any bad effect that a contraceptive might have on an already existing child (Magallon). Another claim against artificial contraceptives, especially of oral contraceptive pills, is that they have been found to be carcinogenic agents in a recent research conducted by the Womens Health Initiatives and was classified so by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Position paper on the RH bill). In all fairness, further research on my side lead me to the conclusion that this information is true. However, while it is true that OCPs are chemical group 1 carcinogens, it is also true that use of OCPs prevent endometrial and ovarian cancers (Associated Press). Aside from that, I think it is worthy to point out that the dosages used i n the studies from which the conclusion was made were, to quote Dr. Steven Goldstein, professor of the natural York University medical exam Center, 2 to 4 times higher than the dosages Im using today in most women referring to the pills she provides her clients with (Associated Press).Also, according to director of analytic epidemiology of the American Cancer order Eugene Calle, the evidence of increase in dumbbell cancer risk is very small and transient, which means that it disappears as soon as the intake of the pills is stopped (Associated Press). Providing Filipinos with both Artificial and Natural Family Planning Methods may have a few disadvantages but I believe that the advantages of these actions outweigh all the cons. If the Reproductive Health Bill is passed, considering its main twinge is promoting full information and providing access to and choice amongst the full selection of family planning methods whether natural or artificial more causeless pregnancies wou ld be prevented thus reducing the current MMR of the Philippines and saving the lives of not only women but children as well (Pernia et al.) Effects of the Reproductive Health BillA lot of effects other than those mentioned before may come from the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill. One of these miscellaneous effects is that it would help reduce the population growth rate which would then produce a mannikin of chain reaction that would help quench poverty especially in the poorest areas here in the country (Alonzo, et.al, Pernia, et.al). This happens because parents who are able to space their children and acquire their desired family size are more capable to deal the cost of raising and educating their children (Pernia, et.al). Once educated, these children would then be able to help raise their families above poverty through work and business (Pernia, et.al).Another effect of the Reproductive Health Bill is it encourages women to exercise their right to choose and their f ree will (Lagman). Women would be given the chance to make informed choices on matters that affect them the most (Lagman).The publicity of an age-appropriate sex-education program would also help teenagers cast how to act in the face of sexual confusion (Lagman). It will promote go down sexual values and instill both consciousness of the freedom of choice and responsibilities of physical exertion ones rights (Lagman). Knowledge on these matters is important because health risks associated with mistimed and unplanned pregnancies are higher for women who become pregnant while still in their adolescent ages (Pernia, et.al).Against all these good effects however, there are those who claim that if the RH Bill would be passed then a so-called demographic winter inverse triangle population, with the old above and the young below would occur in the Philippines (Position paper on the RH bill). This, according to some UP Professors of Economics has been greatly hyperbolize and could onl y be considered as a scare tactic that intends to instill maintenance in peoples minds and which was in all likelihood spread by people who do not understand population dynamics or worse, who intend to mislead (Alonzo et al., also cited in Lagman). ConclusionThe RH Bill empowers women. It reinforces the peoples freedom to choose and freedom to be informed. It protects not only the sanctity of life but the quality of life that a child will have once he is born. It is pro-life, pro-women and pro-choice.The Reproductive Health bill also aims to protect women from the many complications of pregnancy and childbirth. It also aims to provide better care for every child born. Aside from that, the RH Bill will enable Filipinos to protect themselves better form sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS.Both Artificial and Natural Family Planning Methods are essential for the implementation of a comprehensive reproductive health law. These methods are scientifically proven safe and though s ome might have contrary effects, the advantages of these methods outweigh the risks they may present.The Reproductive Health Bill is a bill that allows spouses to plan their families and gain only the children they can provide for. It will help many poor families in investing more for their children and can alleviate poverty even if it cannot make it disappear altogether. The Reproductive Health Bill will also enable the young person to understand their rights and their responsibilities and promote proper sexual values.Understanding all this, I call for the immediate passage of the Reproductive Health Bill for the good of the Filipino nation. industrial plant Cited1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. The LAWPHiL Project. Arellano Law Foundation, n.d. Web. 5 September 2011. Alonzo Ruperto P., Arsenio M. Balisacan, Dante B. Canlas, Joseph J. Capuno, Ramon L. Clarete, Rolando A. Danao, Emmanuel S. de Dios, Benjamin E. Diokno, Emmanuel F. Esguerra, Raul V. Fabella, M a. Socorro Gochoco-Bautista, Aleli P. Kraft, Felipe M. Medalla, Nimfa F. Mendoza, Solita C. Monsod, Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr., Ernesto M. Pernia, Stella A. Quimbo, Gerardo P. Sicat, Orville C. Solon, Edita A. Tan, Gwendolyn R. Tecson. 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Mendoza, Solita C. Monsod, Toby Melissa C. Monsod, Fidelina Natividad-Carlos, Cayetano W. Paderanga, Gerardo P. Sicat, Orville C. Solon, Edita A. Tan, and Gwendolyn R. Tecson. Population, Poverty, governing and the Reproductive Health Bill (DP 2011-01). Discussion Paper. UP School of Economics February 2011. Web. 5 September 2011. PDF. Retrieved from Philippines. Cong. House. The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2011. fifteenth Cong., 1st sess. HB 4244. PDF. Position Paper on RH bill by Individual Faculty, Students and Alumni of the University of the Philippines. iPetition.com. n.d. Web. 5 September 2011. Retrieved from Singh S et al., Adding It Up The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Family Planning and M aternal and Newborn Health, New York Guttmacher Institute and United Nations Population Fund, 2009. (Suggested citation) WHO. Reproductive Health. World Health Organization. n.d. Web. 18 October 2011. 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