Senate to start plenary debates on RH bill next week

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate is expected to start plenary debates on the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill next week.

Senate committee on health and demography chair Pia Cayetano said that she is now fine-tuning the committee report and would have it ready for debates by next week.

A separate bill on the protection of the unborn child filed by a number of senators, including those who are against the RH bill, is seen by some quarters as counterweight to the controversial measure.

The committee on youth, women and family relations, also chaired by Cayetano, conducted a public hearing on the protection of the unborn child bill yesterday.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, a staunch critic of the RH bill and one of the authors of the protection of the unborn child bill, argued that the RH bill should remove the provisions on the promotion and distribution of contraceptives by the government.

“It was revealed that a significant number of these contraceptives are abortifacients,” Sotto said after yesterday’s hearing.

He noted that even the so-called morning after pill, considered by many as abortifacient, may be purchased over-the-counter in spite of the claims of authorities to the contrary. Sotto reiterated that abortion is unconstitutional.

It was not made clear during yesterday’s hearing which of the contraceptives and other drugs could be used as abortifacients.

“You can’t pass the RH bill without determining which contraceptives are legal or not. Contraceptive products or medicines that could be abortifacients should carry warnings or labels (indicating such),” Sen. Ralph Recto said.

“There should be a list of services and medicine that are abortifacients or not,” he added.

Cayetano said that while she is treating the two bills as separate and independent of each other, she would most likely incorporate some of the provisions of the protection of the unborn child bill in the committee report on the RH bill.

She emphasized that the RH bill would definitely not promote or condone abortion.

Cayetano also said that the committee report on the RH bill would not define which of the contraceptives are abortifacients because this is the job of the Food and Drug Administration.

According to Cayetano, the solution would be to apply strict guidelines for the use of contraceptives and other medicine that are abortifacients.

“We should regulate its use and strengthen the FDA so that its use will not be abused,” Cayetano said.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, principal author of the RH bill, argued that contraceptives are not abortifacients and that women have a right to have access to these contraceptives.

“Under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Beijing and ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development) Conference documents, the Philippines is obligated and committed to provide information and access to family planning methods,” Santiago said.

“Denying access to IUD (intrauterine device) is a blatant violation of the woman’s freedom to decide whether and when to bear children. Such denial risks women’s lives and health,” she added.

Santiago also argued that using religious belief against contraceptives use would be tantamount to the “imposition of one’s religious morality on the whole Filipino populace.”

“The government’s role in protecting religious freedom is critical, otherwise, the predominant religion, or even well mobilized minorities, can invoke the state’s power to curb religious freedoms of others whose views differ from theirs,” Santiago said.