RH law stopped indefinitely

AFTER hearing oral arguments lambasting the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Law for being unconstitutional, the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday decided to extend indefinitely its status quo ante order (SQAO) issued in March this year, effectively blocking the implementation of the law.

During regular en banc sessions yesterday, all of the justices agreed to delay the new law. In March, 10 justices voted to delay the implementation of the law by 120 days, while five justices—Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Aranal-Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Justice Mariano Del Castillo, Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Justice Marvic Leonen—dissented. Yesterday, eight justices voted to extend the SQVA indefinitely—Jose Catral Mendoza, Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Arturo Brion, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Roberto Abad and Jose Perez.