The RH Bill Debate
The Philippine government has been trying to pass the RH Bill for a long time now, but a lot of people are against it because of their religion. I am a Catholic but I support the RH Bill. And in this essay, I will talk about:
* What the RH Bill is about
* The history of reproductive health in the Philippines
* Philippine population historical development
* The positive side of the RH Bill
* The negative side of the RH Bill
* My stand on the RH Bill
* My conclusion
The Reproductive Health bills, popularly known as the RH Bill, are Philippine bills aiming to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care. The bills have become the center of a contentious national debate. There are presently two bills with the same goals: House Bill No. 4244 or An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development, and For Other Purposes introduced by Albay 1st district Representative Edcel Lagman, and Senate Bill No. 2378 or An Act Providing For a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population and Development introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. While there is general agreement about its provisions on maternal and child health, there is a great debate on its key proposal that the Philippine government and the private sector will fund and undertake widespread distribution of family planning devices such as condoms, birth control pills (BCPs) and IUDs, as the government continues to disseminate information on their use through all health care centers. [1]
According to the Senate Policy Brief titled Promoting Reproductive Health, the history of reproductive health in the Philippines dates back to 1967 when leaders of 12 countries including the Philippines' Ferdinand Marcos signed the Declaration on Population. The population commission (Popcom) was created to push for a lower family size norm and...