Church won’t change stand on birth control

There is no way the Catholic Church will change its stand against artificial birth control in the country despite a reportedly growing public clamor for family planning support, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said yesterday.

CBCP president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, of Jaro in Iloilo, said a recent survey of pollster Pulse Asia indicating that 92 percent of 1,800 Filipinos surveyed want government funding for birth control is not enough reason for a change in the centuries-old stand of the Catholic Church on the issue.

In his statement "Restating Church’s Advocacy on Natural Family Planning," Lagdameo said: "The widespread use of contraceptives – even with government support – and the great number of abortions committed daily do not change the objective moral law on birth control. Surveys favoring contraceptives or birth control will not alter the Church’s position and insistence in teaching the objective moral laws regarding the dignity of human life and family."

The prelate said the Church still sees artificial methods of family planning as "a wrong thing."

The CBCP president has maintained the Church’s argument there is no direct correlation between population and poverty. He also said people should not misconstrue such a stand as an obstruction to economic progress in the country.

Lagdameo also contested the claim that population in the country has steadily been rising, citing studies conducted by United Nations and the National Statistics Office (NSO).

"According to the UN, the Philippine population growth rate has declined from 2.36 percent to 1.84 percent. For NSO, it’s 2.05 percent," Lagdameo said. "Our country’s total fertility rate is not 3.5 but 3.2 – also based on UN and NSO - and is headed towards further decline. Based on these data, this is what is alarming. Our population is decreasing, but still poverty is worsening."

But assuming, without conceding that the population of the Philippines is growing, Lagdameo said population growth may even be advantageous to Filipinos.

He believes the decline in population growth will have long-term repercussions on the economy: "We are already declining in number. Soon, as in many developed countries, there will be more old people for the government to support and less young people to run the economy – and what more will happen, considering that many of our young generation who migrate to ‘greener pastures?’"

Lagdameo said the Church is not against population control, but disapproves of what he described as "cafeteria methods or artificial methods that have instant results: contraceptives, abortions, ligations and vasectomy."

"The formation of core values, as well as the education in the natural methods of family planning are part of the advocacy of the Church’s Family Life Apostolate," Lagdameo said. "These methods include lactational amenorrehea, basal body temperature (reading), the Billings ovulation method, and the symptho-thermal method. It is so important that the Family Apostolate in the parishes and barrios have lay people – especially married couples – who have undergone training and value formation in these methods. Patient and continuous education is necessary in this apostolate."

The CBCP issued the statement in reaction to the Pulse Asia survey results issued last week showing that nine out of 10 Filipinos support artificial birth control programs.

The survey, which was based on 1,800 respondents nationwide, also showed 75 percent of voters will support candidates in the May 14 elections who endorse government funding for family planning.

Lagdameo believes the survey results only mean that the Church should double efforts to campaign against artificial family planning methods and promote natural methods of birth spacing. – Edu Punay