ROW OVER FAMILY PLANNING BILL
‘Pro-lifers’ counting on neophyte solons
By Dona Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:12:00 10/07/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- An official of the Bishops-Legislators Caucus of the Philippines (BLC) said on Tuesday they are banking on more than 100 neophyte members of the House of Representatives to eventually vote against the reproductive health (RH) bill.
Feny Tatad, wife of former senator Francisco Tatad and executive director of the BLC, also maintained that the controversial legislation which seeks to make contraceptives more accessible to the public does not have the numbers to pass in the House.
On Monday, Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill 5043, said the measure's co-authors numbered 108 of 238 congressmen.
The proposed Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development Act of 2008 needs 120 votes to be approved on second reading in Congress.
"Congressman Lagman is out of touch. He is not in touch with reality. [But] he is entitled to his delusions," Tatad told a weekly forum sponsored by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
But while claiming members of the House are flocking to the anti-RH bill side, Tatad could not say exactly how many would vote against the bill.
"Many of them want to understand the provisions because more than 100 of them are first-termers. A lot of them are young," she said. "Let's give them time to decide and let's see how the interpellations and the debates on the floor will proceed. There are only a few undecided."
The CBCP has vigorously opposed House Bill 5043 for its promotion of artificial birth control and sex education in schools.
The Iglesia ni Cristo and the Jesus is Lord church on the other hand have endorsed the bill, along with some Protestant and Muslim leaders.
While the Catholic leadership would not impose a "Catholic vote," Tatad said that in the coming 2010 elections, church organizations would campaign against congressmen who would vote in favor of the bill.
The bill requires government hospitals to include contraceptives in their supplies purchase and requires mandatory reproductive health education in schools.
The bill also requires local governments to employ enough midwives or attendants for a ratio of one for every 150 deliveries per year; to have an emergency obstetric care and maternal death review; and to provide mobile health care services.
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