A new twist vs RH Bill: Terror in the womb!

Last Tuesday was the Holy Innocents Day, when King Herod ordered the killing of all the children in Bethlehem because the Magi did not return to him to inform him where the Messiah was in Bethlehem. The poor innocent little children of Bethlehem became the first Martyrs who died in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, executed by a blood thirsty king who thought that since he ruled the land, no one should be a threat to his authority, not even the Messiah whose coming was foretold by the Prophets. Alas, it is the poor and innocent children who died in the hands of kings and in today’s times, presidents or prime ministers.

But that story was 2,000 years ago and King Herod and the kingdom of Israel have long vanished, replaced by a democratic form of government. But today, we live in a time where there are so many types of Herods, who still kill the poor innocents. One of them is Rep. Edcel Lagman, the principal author of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill. If this bill passes, it would allow abortifacient contraceptives to flood our nation and kill a lot more innocent lives, more than King Herod could kill in 50 lifetimes! This is why we are asking Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III not to support the RH Bill as the deaths of those poor innocent children would be on his hands.

We have been fighting the RH Bill from its former versions for many years now and I would like to believe that the advocacy of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) this year to educate our faithful flock have begun to make good inroads in this struggle for our people to better understand the dangers of supporting the RH bill.

In his Christmas message, CBCP President Bishop Nereo Odchimar of Tandag did not mince his words when he said “The passage of the RH Bill would lead to the womb becoming a “ferocious threat” to the unborn children.” He equated the RH Bill to extrajudicial killings, the insurgency and terrorism. These are strong words indeed, especially coming from the CBCP President… but on the other hand, I do concur that killing a defenseless child, like that nine-year-old boy who was killed together with the 10 soldiers is an act of terrorism or an extra-judicial killing. What else could it be?

What Bishop Odchimar said was, “In our country, acquiring peace in Muslim Mindanao seems almost hopeless while insurgency, coup attempts, and crimes such as extrajudicial killings, terrorism and the like continue to interrupt the smooth progress of national affairs.” Bishop Odchimar further said, “There is “unpeace in the womb.” I submit that in this sick nation of ours, there’s just too much killings, which is why we are under what people call a culture of death! Should we add the RH Bill in this cauldron of more death and destruction of innocent lives? I think not!

As expected of him, Rep. Lagman chastised the CBCP calling their statements as “The height of antediluvian hyperbole”. To be perfectly honest, this word sent me scrambling to my dictionary, which means, “as one belonging to the biblical flood, antiquated or prehistoric.” He can call the Catholic Church any names he wants, but whether he likes it or not, as our Lord Jesus Christ prophesied, “The gates of Gehenna shall not prevail upon her.”

In my book, Rep. Lagman is one fellow who thinks he can destroy the Catholic Church… unfortunately others who are more powerful than him have tried, Then Lagman went on haranguing the Catholic Church saying “The history of Christianity is so engulfed in terrorism from the persecution of early Christians to the counter-persecution of both heretics and believers to preserve the hegemony of the Roman Catholic Church particularly during the Inquisitions. These acts of church terrorism extended to the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period which was dominated by the Church and are perpetuated today with threats of excommunication against perceived religious dissenters like RH and pro-women advocates.”

As a Catholic, we do not deny that those things happened in the past, which sent the late Great Pope John Paul II asking for forgiveness for the past sins that the Catholic Church has committed. But that’s in the past now. The Catholic Church is a different one from what Lagman detailed to us.

In his defense of the RH bill, Rep Lagman said, “The RH bill is far from being ‘terroristic’ since it is pro-quality of life. It saves lives by greatly reducing the incidence of abortions and decreases maternal and infant mortality even as it welcomes the wanted and properly-timed birth of children.”

Rep. Lagman’s statement only reveals that all unwanted pregnancies are unwelcome! No doubt, Rep. Lagman would lie, cajole or con anyone who listens to get support for the RH Bill. But his response to the CBCP proves that he is desperate, despite all the propaganda he has spent to say that Filipinos support the RH Bill, which is sheer and unabashed falsehood!

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected] or vsbobita@ gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.