RH Bill

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. Even ordinary citizens have their own stand on issues plaguing the country. There’s nothing unusual about this. After all, we are living in a democratic country. We have the freedom to express our opinions.

The controversial Reproductive Health Bill that is currently pending in Congress is just one of the issues that have divided the nation. Even religious groups and denominations have expressed their support and disgust about this bill which seeks to provide artificial methods of family planning among others. The opposition of the Catholic Church is understandable and expected as they believe that the Church has a moral obligation to protect the family against this bill. The Church is only in favor of natural family planning methods and it has managed to persuade previous legislators not to pass bills such as this.

As a Catholic, I don’t see anything wrong with this even if there’s a so-called separation of Church and State. Everybody has the right to speak on the matter. We are all stakeholders in this issue, after all. However, launching personal attacks to people who are publicly supporting the bill is overkill and totally uncalled for. Calling the president an anti-Christian and attacking the person of other advocates will not help enlighten people on the merits of their opposition. I was dumbfounded when I saw a news report on TV about a Catholic priest’s tirade about the RH bill with invectives thrown at a popular RH advocate. For some, these are seemingly desperate acts.

These anti-RH bill efforts have become counterproductive. I personally believe that the passage of this bill is imminent.

The Church should focus more on strengthening the Filipino family’s moral fiber and guide the people to choose what their conscience dictates.