Equating the Reproductive Health Care Bill with the promotion of abortion is a misinformed and misleading exercise. (Inquirer, 9/19/07) No reproductive health bill filed in Congress seeks to legalize abortion. In fact, the prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications are key components of the bill (Sec. 5).
The recognition that abortion is prohibited and penalized under Articles 256-259 of the Revised Penal Code remains. But there is also recognition of the critical need -- when abortion is resorted to despite the prohibition -- to manage post-abortion complications in a humane and compassionate manner. A patient shouldn’t be left to die just because she is poor or desperate.
The bill will penalize health care service providers that refuse to attend to these patients (Sec. 15, House Bill No. 17), just as Republic Act No. 8344 sanctions hospitals and medical clinics that deny appropriate initial medical treatment to emergency and serious cases. This fundamental protection should be given to the Filipino patient; this is not promoting abortion.
With their needless focus on abortion, the bill’s critics fail to appreciate the crucial elements of reproductive health care that, among others, address: (1) maternal, infant and child health and nutrition, (2) the promotion of breastfeeding, (3) family planning and information services, (4) the prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications, (5) adolescent and youth health, (6) the prevention and management of RTIs, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, (7) the elimination of violence against women, (8) education and counseling on sexuality and sexual and reproductive health, (9) treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers and other gynecological conditions, (10) male involvement and participation in reproductive health, and (11) the prevention and treatment of infertility and sexual dysfunction.
Clearly, House Bill No. 17 is not an advertisement for abortion and sexual promiscuity, but an advocacy for reproductive health as a basic human right. And as state-party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw), the Philippine government must protect and facilitate the enjoyment of this right. The passage of the Reproductive Health Care Bill into law, not knee-jerk arguments from its critics, ensures that.
MARIE HAZEL LAVITORIA SALIGAN, Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal, G/F Hoffner Bldg., Social Development Complex, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City
