Module #6: Reflection

Women Relieved As ‘RH’ Law Takes Effect

By AFP

January 17, 2013, 6:17pm

MANILA, Philippines --- A controversial birth control law came into effect Thursday after more than a decade of bitter opposition from the influential Catholic Church, with women saying the change came as a relief.

The government is still threshing out how to implement the law, which proponents say will help moderate the nation’s rapid population growth, reduce poverty, and bring down high maternal mortality.

But Catholic groups have already shifted their battle to the courts, questioning the law’s constitutionality. The church, which counts 80 percent of Filipinos as followers, disallows the use of artificial contraceptives.

A group of women lining up for contraceptives at a non-governmental organization’s health center in a slum area of Manila said the change of law came as a relief.

Housewife Nerissa Gallo, 44, who has already had 16 children, said it would bring contraceptives into the reach of the poor.

She broke into tears as she recalled the difficulty she has faced in raising her children, four of whom died after suffering from diarrhea.

Asked about the church’s opposition, she said: “We don’t pay attention to that. They are not the ones who are giving birth again and again. We are the ones who have to find a way to care for the children.”

The medical charity Merlin praised the law as a “milestone” but said more efforts were needed to make sure it was properly implemented.

“There is likely to be cultural opposition... led by religious conservatives, which could make it hard for clinics to offer services,” country director, MaximePiasecki, said.

But the historic Responsible Parenthood law (popularly known as Reproductive Health (RH) law) came too late for Rosalie Cabenan, a housewife who has given birth 22 times.

Frail, with a leathery face streaked with wrinkles, 48-year-old Cabenan suffers from untreated gall stones and constant fatigue because her body has never had the time to properly recover from her successive pregnancies.

“We only wanted three children. But they kept coming and coming,” Cabenan told AFP this week at her ramshackle home in Baseco, a massive slum in Manila where more than 60,000 people compete for space.

“I was always pregnant and there was no time to take care of myself because I had to keep working to help my husband feed the children. I have tried everything, a stevedore (dock worker), a laundry woman, fish monger and a vegetable seller.”

Cabenan had her first child when she was just 14. When she nearly died giving birth to her youngest, who is now six, she finally abandoned the demands of the Catholic Church to not use contraceptives.

A devout Catholic who still goes to mass twice a week, Cabenan nevertheless regrets following the church dogma so strictly and said she welcomed the Responsible Parenthood Law that officially took effect.

The law requires government health centers to hand out free condoms and birth control pills, benefiting tens of millions of the country’s poor who would not otherwise be able to afford or have access to them.

It also mandates that sex education be taught in schools and public health workers receive family planning training, while post-abortion medical care has been made legal for the first time.

“I tell women now, please do not be like me. I have too many children, and sometimes I do not know what to do and just cry, especially when they fight,” she said.

President Aquino signed the bill into law last month in the face of strong lobbying by the Catholic church, and religious leaders have vowed that the fight is not over.

The church is now relying on lay groups that have filed petitions with the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the law, said Roy Lagarde, a spokesman for the country’s Catholic bishops.

The bishops will hold a regular meeting this weekend where measures to oppose the law will be discussed, he added.

The law’s chief author Congressman EdcelLagman said he was confident the court would uphold the change.

“We have long expected that the opposition will go to the Supreme Court. We have prepared for this eventuality,” he told AFP.

Although took effect as of Thursday, Hazel Chua, an official at the Health Department’s family planning unit, said they were still preparing implementation rules and regulations, which will only be released in April.

Under the law, government health centers will have to have a supply of contraceptives, unlike in the past when local mayors could be intimidated by the church into not providing birth control services, she said.

 http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/390100/women-relieved-as-rh-law-takes-effect#.US5ZDaLql5g

Reproductive Health Bill

The Philippines is facing again a very serious issue that affects moral values and its culture.  This is really a very serious issue and could really change the life of every Filipino, Issue pertaining to Reproductive Health Bill.Many Filipinos are very naive about this and most probably has no idea of what possible effects that could destroy our true Filipino morality with the concern of reproduction and sex.  Religious groups and organizations opposed this bill, and so with the few conservative Filipinos, but for those whose minds were twisted by only on politics and business, they thought that to reduce poverty is through population control. 

One of the most controversial bills pending in Congress, primarily brought about by the strong and active opposition by the Roman Catholic Church, is the Reproductive Health Bill. This is not the first time that a proposed law on reproductive health has been filed in Congress and the bills were not uniformly referred to as the Reproductive Health Bill or RH Bill, which term is used basically for convenience to refer to bills of similar nature. 

The RH Bill is controversial because the Catholic Church is vehemently opposed to any legalization of birth control or discussion of family planning. The opponents of the bill have spread a large number of myths and tried to make people afraid that the bill would make abortion legal and cause immoral behavior. They also claim this bill will lead to abortion on demand, and that even criticizing the bill could result in fines or penalties. In their view, the RH Bill would thus diminish religious freedom. That is why the Catholic Church has delayed this bill from even coming to a vote for nearly a decade.

This controversial Reproductive Health Law is set to effect after more than a decade of bitter opposition from the influential Catholic Church, with woman saying the change come as a relief. President Benigno Aquino III signed the measure last December 21, 2012.

Today, we all know that many women giving birth in their young age because of their young age they don’t ready for the sequences of being a young wife and young mother for their children. Many women got pregnant at the minor age and when they turn in to the legal age they have many children they giving birth many times so some of them use contraceptives to control unwanted pregnancy.

This article show that many women like Rosalie Cabenan giving birth many times and because she has no time to take care of herself she suffer from different illness and also she has no enough time to take care of their children equally. Behind of this controversial Reproductive Health Law some clinic in different places gives free condoms’ and birth control pills for the people who need it, but the church disapprove giving this king of contraceptives because for Catholic Church this is abortion. We all know that abortion is killing one’s life.

Some of the people and the government agencies agree with this law because of them this is the one way to moderate the nation’s rapid population growth, to reduce poverty, and to bring down high maternal mortality.

For me, when they say “Reproductive Health Law” or “RH Law” I depend on the agree side. I agree with this law because like the other people say this law helps the government, this law requires our government health centers to hand free condoms and birth control pills for unwanted pregnancy of the women around. Sex education will be taught in schools and public workers receive family planning training while post- abortion medical care has been made legal for the first time.

Listen to the music of other countries and learned to sing one song. Video record yourself singing it. Post the lyrics.

First love

            By : Utada Hikaru

Saigono kissu wa

Tabako no flavor gashita

Nigakute setsunai kaori

Ashita no imagoro ni wa

Anata wa doko ni irun darou'

Dare wo omotte 'run darou'

You are always gonna be my love

Itsuka dare kato mata koi ni ochitemo

I'll remember to love

You taught me how

You are always gonna be the one

Imawa mada kanashii love song

Atarashi uta utaeru made

Tachidomaru jikan ga

Ugoki dasou to shiteru

Wasuretakunai koto bakari

Ashita no imagoro ni wa

Watashi wa kitto naiteru

Anata wo omotte 'run darou'

Yay yay yeah

You will always be inside my heart

Itsumo anata dake no basho ga aru kara

I hope that I have a place in your heart too

Now and forever you are still the one

Imawa mada kanashii love song

Atarashii uta utaeru made

You are always gonna be my love

Itsuka dare kato mata koi ni ochitemo

I'll remember to love

You taught me how

You are always gonna be the one

Mada kanashii love song yeah

Now & forever ah...