Pro-life group holds rally; workers group pro RH Bill

CEBU, Philippines - A pro-family and pro-life rally will be held next week amidst the “surmounting threats” to life, family and the Catholic Church.

The rally will be held on July 23 at 2pm at the Sto. Niño Pilgrim Center. 

Human Life International country director Rene Josef Bullecer called on all families to join rally and to wear red to show solidarity and a resolve to fight the “threats.”

Bullecer said the event will culminate with a mass which will be officiated by Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President-elect Jose Palma. Former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and lawyer Romy Macalintal will also attend the event.

The Catholic Church has been very vocal in opposing the use of artificial means of family planning, the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill and, recently, the passage of the anti-divorce bill.

On the other side of the fence, however, the Partido ng Manggagawa is supporting the passage of the Reproductive Health bill on the basis of women’s right to reproductive health care. The group said the rapid increase in population due to unmet needs of married Filipino women for family planning services is a growing concern. 

In  a statement, PM said that working women add the  voices to the chorus of support for the RH bill as it asserts that the passage of House Bill 96 or “The Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2010” is critical given the impact of the global financial crisis on working people and the poor, especially women. 

“The growing incidence of hunger and poverty only connotes that poor and working women will neither be able to afford nor access contraceptive methods, in particular, and reproductive health care services, in general,” the statement reads.

 The RH Bill, according to the proponents, aims to uphold and promote respect for life, informed choice, birth spacing and responsible parenthood in conformity with internationally recognized human rights standards.

It is also aimed at guaranteeing universal access to medically-safe, legal and quality reproductive health care services and relevant information even as it prioritizes the needs of women and children. — (FREEMAN)