Philippines Family Planning Bill Challenges Catholic Influence On Reproductive Health

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 12 Mar 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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A "ground-breaking" bill in the Philippines that would provide government-funded family planning services has reached the House floor for debate, a development that supporters of the bill say "shows that the political clout of the Roman Catholic Church is on the wane" in the country, the Christian Science Monitor reports. According to the Monitor, the Catholic Church's policy against the use of contraceptives has "long held sway" in the Philippines, where about 81% of the country's 96 million residents are Catholic. Although passage of the bill -- which would provide family planning, contraceptives and sex education -- is not guaranteed, its current position in the House is the "furthest any such draft legislation has ever reached," the Monitor reports. Ramon San Pascual, director of the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development Foundation, said that the "fact that this bill has gotten so much momentum indicates that politicians are no longer scared by the church's threats. Some cultural change is taking place."

The Catholic Church only supports "natural" birth control, such as avoiding sex on the most fertile days of a woman's cycle. The church views artificial contraception as immoral and has "long prevented any efforts" for government funding for such methods, the Monitor reports. A Pulse Asia poll conducted in the fall of 2008 found that 63% of respondents support the bill and that only 8% percent opposed it, with the remaining undecided on the issue. Edcel Lagman, the bill's key sponsor in the House, said the "influence of the Catholic Church has steadily weakened, just like in other countries." He said, "People are now more independent in their attitudes and their beliefs, and the ultraconservatism of the church doesn't jibe with the progressive ideas of the people."

Supporters of the bill say it will help prevent illegal abortions through better access to family planning resources and address poverty by reducing overpopulation. They point to data showing that as many as 500,000 Filipino women have abortions each year, with about 80,000 going to the hospital because of complications. Although the bill does not provide funding for abortion, the Catholic Church and other opponents argue that it could lead to legalized abortion. Father Amadeo Alvero, media coordinator of the Archdiocese of Palo, dismissed the results of the Pulse Asia poll and said that the "truth of the evil of the [bill] cannot be changed," no matter how many people support it.

Impeachment motions against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sidelined the bill in 2008, but that does not appear to be an issue now, the Monitor reports. Last fall, the bill received "surprising" support from 69 professors at the Roman Catholic Ateneo de Manila University who signed an open letter backing the legislation. San Pascual said the bill's advocates also have obtained more support from other stakeholders, including industry groups like the Employers Confederation of the Philippines. San Pascual said such groups "see their employees having many children affecting productivity in the workplace and exacting heavy costs."

Nonetheless, the church leadership "isn't about to give in without a fight," the Monitor reports. Church bishops' representatives walked out of a Senate working-group discussion on the bill in February and said they would not participate in further discussions. A small group of the church's allies are planning to stall the bill in questioning on the House floor, according to the Monitor. If the bill passes both houses, President Macapagal-Arroyo -- a Roman Catholic -- is expected to let it "lapse" into law, neither signing it nor vetoing it, the Monitor reports (Adams, Christian Science Monitor, 3/10).

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