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CONGRESSMAN Ed Zialcita of Parañaque City, and vice-chairman of the
House Committee on Urban Development, has set forth a bill to
“save the lives, health and future of innocent babies and
children.” The bill is called the Safe Haven October of 2007. It
intends “to address the moral degeneration of society as a result
of tragedies caused by abortion, child abuse, neglect and other
forms of anti-life and anti-child acts,” Zialcita said in a recent
report in this newspaper.
His proposal would permit parents to entrust the
custody and care of their baby 60 days or younger, unharmed to a
member of any hospital, medical emergency facility, police or fire
station or to an office of the DSWD. Under the measure, parents may
but shall not be required to give their names to a staff member or
responsible employee receiving the child.
The parent who surrenders the child would have
six months to have a change of mind and could then reclaim the
custody of the child.
The good congressman’s proposal would also
create a national registry of infants “to guard against any
possibility of abuse of the provisions of this measure, and at the
same time improve government’s response to cases of missing
children.”
What a wonderful idea. I support it all the way
and wish that we would all get behind this noble effort to save our
unwanted babies from abortion and neglect.
Though abortion is a crime in our country, the
fact remains that so many women resort to illegal abortions when
they feel trapped in an unwanted pregnancy. Faced with the
complicated issues of having a child out of wedlock, marrying in
haste or having an abortion, an unknown number opt for abortion.
Though they might feel relieved at first that
the abortion saved them from embarrassment and shame, after a while
many begin to be eaten up by feelings of guilt. And those feelings
keep right on going through the years. I have spoken to countless
women during my more than forty years of counseling who chose to
take the abortion route and who, until now, are haunted by guilt
feelings. They are weighed down by the memories of the past. One of
them told me recently: “No matter how much I pray and ask
forgiveness for what I did, still, I can never forget what happened.
It still bothers me even if that was so many years ago!!
If you have problems about drugs, alcohol and
behavior/attitude call my office at 8206107 or 8251771 or e-mail me
at gvcbuenca@vasia.com or write me at P.O. Box 2099 MCPO, Makati
City.
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