The Philippine Online Chronicles

The feminist partylist group, Gabriela announced that they want to remove population control out of the reproductive health bill. The Reproductive Health Bill is currently being debated in Congress.

What Gabriela wants is for a comprehensive health care program for marginalized women, not a reproductive health program.

There is a difference.

For one thing, how does one identify "marginalized"? Is there a difference between "marginalized" women and all Filipino women? Shouldn't men be part of the equation because it takes two to tango?

Let's take a look at the full text of the Reproductive Health Bill.

The term, "family planning", is mentioned 34 times in the consolidated Reproductive Health Bill (as published in early April 2011). The first mention of the term is in paragraph f, section 3, which goes, "The state shall promote without bias, all effective natural and modern methods of family planning that are medically safe, and legal;"

So, in human terms it translates that the State will inform people about Natural family planning. They will inform the public about contraception. They will inform the public about tubal ligation, and so on and so forth. Of course the discussion will involve the use of condoms, IUDs, and all that.

Scroll down to section 4, and the bill defines Family Planning as "a program which enables couples, individuals, and women to decide freely and responsibly the number, and spacing of their children, acquire relevant information on reproductive health care, services and supplies and have access to a full range of safe, legal, affordable, effective natural and modern methods of limiting and spacing pregnancy."

This is the essence of the bill.

The bill is about government giving people choices.

If Gabriela wants to take out population control and family planning off the bill then it is no long a Reproductive Health Bill, but a Health Care bill. A watering down of the RH Bill to such a degree makes it moot.

What good does it do then?

The whole point of Family planning is for couples to figure out that hey, "I can't afford another kid. This is a human life that I have to feed. I have to send to school." What Gabriela wants is for women who are pregnant to get free natal care, free checkup and all that. What Gabriela wants is to keep the status quo. What Gabriela want is for the nation to be reactive, not proactive.

A bill simply for marginalized women's health care doesn't make fewer marginalized pregnant women. It will simply say, the state will foot the bill. It doesn't get them out of poverty or being marginalized.

Yes, the reproductive health bill is about women's rights, but it is deeper than that. It is about freedom of choice for couples--- not just women--- not just men. It is for that teenage girl drowning in her hormones to say, "I want my boyfriend to wear a condom". It is for that teenage boy, equally drowning in hormones to say, "Yes, I want to have sex with my girlfriend, but I don't want to be a dad".

It is for that woman who just got married, who washes clothes for a living to say, "I don't want to have kids with my husband yet. Maybe next year".

What we want is for people to consider that hey, "I'm ready to have a family, what are my options?" I'm not saying women, especially poor women shouldn't be taken cared of while pregnant. I'm saying to simply focus on that defeats the point. We're not giving them choices. We're not laying down foundations, we're simply performing a stopgap measure.

In a larger sense, it really isn't about "population control". There is no limit as to what size a family ought to have. According to Authors' Amendments to House Bill 4244, Section 20, "Ideal Family Size," should be deleted. The authors argue that an "ideal family size is neither mandatory nor punitive."

Gabriela is Anti-RH what with their stand that population growth was "never the culprit for our nation's poverty thus population control is never a solution".

Due to population growth, the number of families deemed poor increased by over half a million from 4.1 million to 4.7 million. Over at ProPinoy, Doy Santos compared Sri Lanka and the Philippines and in which he correlated the different population growth rates between the two countries. He argues that Sri Lanka's steady pace, helped by a managed population growth has helped caught up with the Philippines'.

The Reproductive Health Bill is also about protecting our society from Sexually Transmitted Disease. Condoms, as the World Health Organization say helps in the battle against HIV and sexually transmitted infections.

What's more, we can argue that a health care bill for marginalized women should also include mandatory health checks for sex workers. If there was a section of marginalized women then prostitutes and porn stars are on top of that list. A true bill that targets marginalized women's health should include them. Can Gabriela then say we should legalize the sex trade so sex workers can have mandatory health screenings, for example?

The reproductive health care bill talks about giving benefits for serious, and life threatening reproductive health conditions. This includes breast and reproductive tract cancers. It talks about menopausal, and post-menopausal conditions. It talks about HIV, and AIDS, and requires PhilHealth to give women maximum benefits for this.

If that isn't about taking care of women, what is?

We can not afford to water down a bill that doesn't take on the big picture. The bill was never about choosing condoms over natural planning. It was about giving all sides equal opportunity and for men and women to decide what is good for them.

The reproductive health bill doesn't simply stop at pre-natal care. It takes the whole of women-kind into consideration. It seeks to address breast cancer issues. It seeks to address what matters to women the most, and marginalized women is part of the whole population of Filipino women.

Marginalized women aren't the only ones in need. Would you believe young girls from well off families are scared to ask about the pill too? Sex and Sensibilities published a flyer (PDF) on it how the pill works, how a woman old choose the right pill, and all that.

The reproductive health bill at its core is about choice. It is about women. It isn't just about marginalized women, but all Filipino women. What's more, we men have a place in it too.

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