In all Masses today, the Catholic bishops’ pastoral letter about the Reproductive Health Bill will be read. It is titled “Contraception is Coruption.”

May the hearts and minds of our lawmakers hear the voice of truth in the letter.

At dawn last Thursday, 113 members of the House of Representatives voted to pass the Reproductive Health Bill, 104 voted against passage and three of the congressmen present abstained.

The plan of the House leadership is to put the RH Bill to a vote on third reading today.

We urge Catholic readers of The Times to call their congressmen and urge those who have voted for the bill to kindly reconsider and change their vote and to thank and bless those who voted against the RHB.

The pastoral letter is written by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and signed by CBCP vice-president Bishop Socrates Villegas in lieu of CBCP President Archbishop Jose Palma, who was in Vietnam on Saturday for the plenary assembly of Asian bishops.

Bishop Villegas is the Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan.

The letter calls on lawmakers to reject the RHB because it will lead “to crimes against women” and will “corrupt the minds” of the youth.

The CBCP letter reiterates that the controversial “reproductive health” bill if passed into law “can harm” and “will put the moral fiber of our nation at risk.”

“The RH Bill is being gift wrapped to look like a gift for maternal health care. It is not so. It will lead to greater crimes against women.”

The bishops refute claims by the Aquino administration and the RH bill proponents that the measure will benefit the poor Filipinos. “It will not be so,” says the letter.

“The poor can rise from their misery through more accessible education, better hospitals and lesser government corruption. Money for contraceptives can be better used for education and authentic health care,” the bishops’ letter adds.

The CBCP statement was released Saturday after President Benigno Aquino III certified as urgent the RH bill, which he calls the “responsible parenthood” bill.

The proposed population control measure has a provision stating that “parents bring forth into the world only those children that they can raise in a truly humane way.”

Therefore, are “unwanted” children—those who are conceived though unplanned—to be killed, aborted? This can be easily done by using contraceptive pills that are in fact abortifacients (they work to cause abortions). The Philippine Constitution forbids abortion.

It also enables singles and unmarried couples to obtain taxpayer-funded abortion-causing contraceptives for free. P3.7 billion will be allocated.

The CBCP letter also states that the Filipino youth are being made to believe that sex before marriage is acceptable provided they know how to avoid pregnancy.

“Is this moral? Those who corrupt the minds of children will invoke divine wrath on themselves,” says the letter.

“As we your bishops have said in the past, a contraceptive mentality is the mother of an abortion mentality. The wide and free accessibility of contraceptives, even to the youth, will result in the destruction of family life and in greater violence against women,” the CBCP letter says.

Pray for 64 congressmen
The CBCP and pro-life groups are now banking on 64 lawmakers who failed to vote during last Wednesday’s session to prevent the passage of the measure.

“We plead with the sixty four (64) congressmen who have not voted, to be enlightened and stand up for the truth,” the CBCP pastoral letter says.

“The Church teaches us to follow our conscience, the inner sanctuary where we are alone with God, but such conscience must be formed and informed according to the universal values that are common to all human persons.”

“The truth is that to be pro-child, pro-mother and pro-poor, we must resist all threats against them. This is justice. Stand up for it; defend it; do not be swayed by worldly pressures, and be the champion of the people who voted for you. God knows and sees what you are doing,” the bishops say.

Praises for the 104
The bishops also say they will remember the 104 lawmakers who courageously voted against the RH bill on the second reading, as heroes of the nation.

“We congratulate the 104 congressmen and women who voted no to the RH Bill. You have voted courageously, despite all pressures, to stand up for what is right and true,” they said.

“The Church will remember you as the heroes of our nation, those who have said no to corruption and who care for the true welfare of the people, especially the poor,” they also said.

As the Catholic Church begins the nine-day Misa de Gallo today, the CBCP also urges the faithful to continue praying that their respective district representatives will vote against the bill.

“We admonish the Filipino Catholic faithful [not only] to share with those who have less this Christmas, but also share in praying that our congressmen and women will be faithful to their call to serve the true interests of the Filipino people,” the bishops say.

“This means upholding life, saying no to contraception, which is corruption, and being faithful to the Christ Child who was pro-woman, pro-child and pro-poor.”