MANILA, Philippines?The leading campaigner for a population control bill in the country Sunday said he was willing to sit down and compromise with Roman Catholic bishops on some provisions of the controversial measure.
But Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said he would stand firm on the inclusion of artificial contraceptives in government health programs, claiming this would drastically reduce the incidence of abortion.
Lagman said points of agreement would be limited to areas such as the proposed mandatory sex education for students from Grade 5 to fourth year high school. He said bishops could suggest the contents of the curriculum.
He said both Church leaders and ?pro-choice? lawmakers ?agree on the need for freedom and informed choice.?
?There are certain areas where we can agree,? he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net). ?I?m just waiting for the antagonistic atmosphere to subside before we sit down for a dialogue. It?s hard to talk under circumstances which are not conciliatory.?
Lagman said the atmosphere was created by some Church leaders who criticized his aggressive push for the reproductive health bill. He said the dialogue could be held in two weeks, about the time the bill may be calendared for plenary debate.
Until last week, there was no go-signal from Speaker Prospero Nograles for the committee on rules to schedule the bill for floor deliberations.
Lagman said the bill had attracted two more co-authors, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III and Caloocan Rep. Mary Cajayon. He said 69 lawmakers now officially supported the measure.
Lagman needs 116 votes, or 50 percent plus one of the 230 total representatives, to get the bill passed.
But Lagman and his supporters said they were optimistic about gathering enough support for the bill.
Last week, Parańaque City Rep. Eduardo Zialcita, a ?pro-life? advocate, said there were at least 40 congressmen openly opposed to the measure.
Zialcita pointed to international literature showing the many side effects of contraceptives such as morning-after pills, injectables and intrauterine devices.
Critics of the bill say passing Lagman?s bill would pave the way for more cases of abortion, a supposed consequence of similar measures in other countries.
The Catholic Church in the Philippines is campaigning against the use of artificial contraception. The Church promotes only natural family planning methods.
The United Nations, on the other hand, is campaigning to improve reproductive health care as a basic human right.
According to the UN Population Fund, reproductive health problems remain the leading cause of ill health and death for women of childbearing age worldwide.
Impoverished women, especially those living in developing countries, suffer disproportionately from unintended pregnancies, maternal death and disability, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, gender-based violence and other problems related to their reproductive system and sexual behavior.
The UNFPA noted that ?young people often face barriers in trying to get the information or care they need.?
At the 2005 World Summit, world leaders agreed to integrate access to reproductive health into national strategies to attain the Millennium Development Goals.
According to UN research agencies, 19 million women experience an unsafe abortion worldwide each year; 18.5 million of these occur in developing countries: Africa (4.2 million), Asia (10.5 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (3.8 million).
