• Office of the Minority Leader Edcel C. Lagman
• 03 June 2011
• 09189120137 / 09166406737

          The Reproductive Health bill is definitely independent of and separate from the divorce bill.

           The objectives of the RH bill are encompassing with respect to the following:

           1. Protection and promotion of reproductive health rights based on freedom of informed choice;

           2. Promotion of women and children’s health consistent with the country’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which include the reduction of maternal and infant mortality and universal access to family planning by 2015; and

           3. Enhancement of human development determinants like education, health, food security, employment, mass housing and the environment, which are all adversely affected by an inordinate population growth rate (PGR).

           Although both the RH and divorce bills are progressive initiatives, reproductive health has primarily a societal orientation while legalizing divorce has basically an individual motivation.

           The doctrinal opposition from the Catholic hierarchy which has become divisive should not be exacerbated by another legislative proposal which has religious implications.

           All efforts of RH advocates and supporters inside and outside Congress must be mustered towards the enactment of the RH bill which is at the threshold of passage.