I do believe that it is important for our country to pass the Reproductive Health Bill. It's not because I'm being ignorant of God's natural plans for us and for the future people of this country. But it is important that we get ourselves informed about this issue, and not be against it just because we are trying to be good Christians of faith.
As a young girl of nineteen years of age in this time and day, I am exposed to various stimuli and factors from the modern world. Not everyone was brought up the way I was and I cannot say that I haven't been influenced. It might have been lack of decency in choosing who to surround myself with, but high school days were the toughest. Those were the times that I have been most curious about my body, of this I am not ashamed to tell. And while I was going through this phase, I'm sure most of my friends were, too. It's just that it was never really comfortable to talk about.
When I look back on those years, I just wish there was someone to educate me. I remember having one sex education session in the auditorium back when I was in grade 5 or 6 but that was that. I mean come on, people! You cannot just expect teenagers to watch porn and learn about sex first-hand. Personally, I think the learning should be gradual- increasing sexual knowledge and awareness as the years go by as opposed to ignoring the fact that Mara Clara days are long gone and that we are now living in the 21st century.
Second case in point: I think that the less fortunate Filipino women have to be educated so that they may know that they DO have a choice. They have a choice to be a master of themselves or baby-making machines. We all know that back in the day, women were not allowed to do anything but to serve their husbands, whether it be in the kitchen or in bed. But as the years have gone by, we are also aware that women have already made a name for their gender and that should be respected. Sure, there are still those people who think that men are better than women, but there will always be a never-ending debate regarding who is smarter, better, stronger. Truth of the matter is, men and women are both individuals who have equal rights and therefore should never be pushed into doing something he / she would dislike.
Family planning plays a major issue in this RH bill. We are an archipelago of seven thousand islands and our country is currently housing approximately 91, 983, 000 and is also expecting to increase that number in a few years' time. Can you imagine that? There is absolutely a lot of obvious reasons why there is need to control the population in this country. First of all, there's the issue of poverty. We have so much debt in our hands and we're not even trying to do anything about it. There are people who are already existing and yet they wish they weren't. Families of nine to a dozen don't even have food to eat and these people tell us that we do not need family planning. Are you seriously out of your mind? I think that the government TOGETHER with the church should do everything they can to save the Filipino people from existing problems, not further bury them with these issues.
The church, insisting that the use of contraceptives is another way of abortion, hasn't gotten their facts right. Definition check: abortion means a deliberate termination of human pregnancy. The use of contraceptives will prevent unwanted pregnancies and therefore, there will not be any form of termination. Am I not correct?
Do not get me wrong, I am not for the idea of abortion and I don't know if I ever will be but I DO think that one of the main reasons why the RH bill should be approved is so that women may be educated enough to prevent unwanted pregnancies and will therefore lead to fewer, if not zero, cases of abortion. I mean, think about it well and do not make your judgement based on your Christian faith. We are forgetting that while most people in this country may be Christians, there exists a relevant percentage of people who have different beliefs and we should take them into account as well.
They say that we do not need to approve the RH bill and instead, this issue is solely relied on the responsibility of the people. I get that: people should not have sex if they do not want babies. Easy and simple. But then, we are forgetting that we have already established that the Filipino people are irresponsible human beings! Take for example, the famous concept of the Filipino time. Try to go out and cruise the streets of Edsa and Commonwealth and you'll see how reckless Filipino drivers are. If these people cannot even be taught discipline, you think these same people would be responsible? I know we're thinking the same thing, I don't think so.
Some would also say that approving the RH bill would be disapproval of life. I cannot forget a quarter-page ad I saw in the newspaper a couple of months ago about the RH bill promoting life. Even if the RH bill takes over the whole newspaper, I do not think it is a promotion of life. Instead of paying for that ad, why did you not use the money to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless? I mean if you guys are all about Christianity anyway, what is the explanation for spending thousands of money for a quarter-page newspaper ad and not on something to help the needy with? I do not see the logic, and I am almost quite sure that neither do you.
I am a firm believer in God, but I am pro-RH bill. Yes, giving away condoms might seem shallow and funny but did you not know that ONLY condoms give us a hundred percent protection from sexually transmitted diseases?
Being pro-RH bill does not mean allowing and promoting pre-martial intercourse and it certainly doesn't mean that sex is free and could be taken advantage of. All I'm saying is that I would rather educate kids' minds at an early age (they're going to be polluted soon enough anyway!) than see thousands of homeless children and elderly people who have no clothes, no slippers and no food. I would rather that people use condoms for the prevention of STDs- which by the way, could lead to death. I would rather go for family planning than to see specials on the television featuring families of twelve kids eating only a meal a day. I would rather that we be open minded about this matter and think not only for ourselves and for our faith, but for the majority of the people in this country.
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