Philippines pray and stand firm against Reproductive Health Bill

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Supreme Court heard the case of highly controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Law on Tuesday while Philippines debate and protest for and against the rule. Hundreds of Catholics gathered in front of the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City Monday night to pray for a Supreme Court ruling against the RH law.

“Although the Supreme Court’s ruling against the RH Law may appear unlikely, nothing is impossible with God,” Fr. Narcisco dela Cruz said.

The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 is a law that guarantees universal access to methods of contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care. During the hearing on Tuesday, former senator Francisco Tatad said that RH Bill would impose population control to state-mandated contraception. He insisted that couples must be allowed to practice birth control or suffer the consequences.

“That is not freedom of choice at all. That is not respecting family as the basic foundation of national institutions… That is simply putting family, its most intimate and private life, and their liberties under state supervision,” he said.

Speaking against the RH law, lawyer Maria Concepcion Noche said that the rule completely violates a person’s constitutional right to life and right to health.

“A fertilized ovum is alive. It has life. This is a vital sign of life. Fertilized ovum is human. There is human life on conception… Let all the voices of the unborn be heard in this supreme tribunal. Let their voice be yours,” she said.