Pregnant women want RH

MANILA, Philippines - Around 1,000 advocates of the Reproductive Health (RH) Law, mostly pregnant women, marched to the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday urging the high court to declare the statute constitutional and order its implementation.

The protest was spearheaded by the Likhaan for the Purple Movement, an umbrella organization of various groups pushing for RH Law.

Junice Melgar, executive director of Likhaan, said the SC should uphold the law since it underwent 16 years of debates.

“This is an important milestone for our country because this law means the life and death of our women and children. Giving women the services that they need is an act of social justice, and we hope that our justices will consider them,” Melgar said in an interview.

Yesterday’s march kicked off a series of activities to be held in Baguio City where the SC is expected to rule on the RH law on April 8.

Actress Giselle Toengi joined the march. She expressed her support for the advocacy by dressing up as a pregnant woman.

“I’m here to support the cause and hopefully make people realize the urgency of getting on with the programs of the RH law,” she said.