Support for Reproductive Health bill growing - Lagman

MANILA, Philippines – Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, said yesterday support for the measure has been growing among members of the House of Representatives and the public at large.

He said such growing support would eventually isolate certain Catholic bishops and some leaders of “ultraconservative lay organizations” who are opposed to Bill 5043, or the Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development Act of 2008.

“There is emerging victory of progressive advocacy over orthodox dogma,” he said.

He added that in addition to the 108 House members who have co-authored Bill 5043, endorsements have come from inter-faith organizations, academe, scientists and medical societies, employers and workers’ groups, government agencies, and human rights and non-government organizations.

“Both the Iglesia ni Cristo and Jesus is Lord Movement are supporting the Reproductive Health Bill together with most Protestant denominations and Muslim leaders,” he stressed.

Lagman pointed out that other groups supporting the measure include professors of the UP School of Economics, government agencies led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Economic and Development Authority, Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, National Academy of Science and Technology, Inter-faith Partnership, Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, Philippine Society of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, UP Manila Center for Gender and Development Studies, UP Diliman College of Social Work and Community Development, UP Diliman Center for Women’s Studies, Cordillera Human Rights Alliance, Catholics for RH, European Union Country Representative Alistair MacDonald, Welga ng Kababaihan, and the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network.

Lagman said there would be more co-authors of the bill and supporters from various sectors when plenary deliberations on it resume on the second week of November after the one-month congressional break, which starts on Saturday.

The House has suspended debates on the measure to give way to discussions on the proposed P1.415-trillion 2009 national budget, which it is expected to approve on second reading on Friday.

Earlier, Lagman criticized opponents of Bill 5043 for resorting to “dilatory tactics,” saying temporary delay is not victory. – Jess Diaz