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WITH Congress expected to push for passage of the
reproductive health bill once it resumes session later this month,
the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has
vowed to intensify its campaign against the pending bill which the
clergy describes as “anti-life.”
The bill called “An Act Providing
for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible
Parenthood and Population Development, and for Other Purposes” has
merged the earlier reproductive health bills such as HB 17
(Responsible Parenthood and Population Development Act of 2007), HB
812 (The Reproductive Health Care Act) and HB 2753 (The Women’s
Right to Know Act).
“The Catholic Church would seek
the help of different sectors and communities to thwart the passing
of the measures,” Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said
in a report posted on the CBCP website.
“The Church must assert its
pro-life stand, and that includes the opposition against
artificial means of population and birth control,” Pabillo, also
the head of the CBCP social action arm, said.
The Church and the State have
repeatedly locked horns on how to control the country’s
population that is expected to hit 100 million in a few years. The
government has been pushing for the use of artificial birth control
methods such as intrauterine devices, pills and Depo Provera
injectables, which the Church has strongly opposed.
CBCP is expecting President
Gloria Arroyo to issue a strong policy against artificial birth
control and support the Church’s pro-life stance when the Chief
Executive delivers her State of the Nation Address on July 28.
--Anthony Vargas
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