If we hold on together

A week ago I wrote about the struggle of reproductive health (RH) advocates in getting the bill on reproductive health passed. The Catholic church in the Philippines vociferously opposes the passage of this bill, throwing everything but the kitchen sink in terms of strategies are almost military in nature: organized (and funded) efforts at all levels (from as high as the president to as low as the communities), with varied methods & means (bullying the RH advocates in congress, misinformation campaigns to the masses, and threatening the very souls of Catholics who are for the passage of the bill).

As my friend recently wrote in her email to me, the Catholic church have all the resources and power to wage its anti-RH campaign but those of us who are very much for reproductive health should not be daunted. It’s high time for us, who are either directly affected or gravely concerned, to speak up and let our voices rise above the religious and political rethoric that have dogged this campaign for a long time now.

What the church fails to see, in my opinion, is the disparity between what Catholics believe in and the economic and social realities that they have to face and live with everyday. To blame poverty on graft and corruption instead of over-population is not only simplistic, but also hypocritical. One cannot look at social and development issues as if they were boxed separately. They are inextricably linked to each other.

Fortunately, not all Catholics believe and feel the same way about RH and the RH bill. A group of concerned Catholics recently organized a movement to express support for the passage of the RH bill. In its press statement, they said that this movement came to be due to the circumstances that aimed to discredit the RH bill and its advocates & supporters. They contend that, “Reproductive health is not anti-God, not anti-Catholic, not anti-life, not anti-constitution and not anti-poor. It is in fact pro-quality of life, believes in the essential goodness and potentials of men and women, enhances family life and personal relations, respects existing and prevailing laws and prevents loss of lives and helps improve the total health and well being.”

Furthermore, they add that, “The guiding principles of reproductive health do not run counter with the practice of the Catholic faith.”

In the end of my last post on this topic I said that I can only wish the RH advocates well. Another friend commented that I wrote this as if I were not an RH advocate, as if I were an outsider in the arena. I noted that by living outside my home country in the last 4 years, I have seemed to distance myself from issues that are happening in the Philippines. Case in point, this struggle. I realized that I need to do more than wish the RH advocates in the Philippines well. RH (including HIV/AIDS & LGBT rights) remains to be my personal advocacy issues. I can still participate actively, in my own, small, personal way. Like writing about this issue in my blog. You, dear reader, can also participate.

For Filipinos (living in the Philippines or not), the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN) recently created an on-line petition campaign that aims to gather 1 million signatures to show Philippine legislators that there is a wide support base for the bill’s passage in spite of what its oppositors say.

I would like to call on the readers of this blog to read and sign the petition through its link HERE. If you believe that people have the right to accurate information and equitable services to address their reproductive health needs, if you believe that a rights-based & comprehensive RH law will help people improve the quality of their lives, and if you believe that young people need to become responsible in dealing with their sexuality & relationships, PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION.