Archbishop condemns Filipino RH Bill

(Dec. 19, 2012) The Filipino Senate has approved the birth control law. The reproductive health –RH bill is a "moral time bomb," said Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan and vice president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, (CBCP). “Money for contraceptives can be better used for education and authentic health care. The wide and free accessibility of contraceptives will result in the destruction of family life, the bishop said. "This law will open more doors to abortion and more crimes against women," he added. The prelate made the remarks in a pastoral letter, after the Filipino Senate approved the law, following last week's decision by the House of Representatives to do the same. It took the Philippines Congress 14 years and five changes to pass the bill, after a year of discussions against the fierce opposition of the Church.
The new law rejects abortion but promotes family planning, urging couples to have no more than two children. The law allows medical staff to opt out on moral grounds in some cases, but also encourages voluntary sterilisation. The Catholic Church and Catholic associations favour instead the Natural Family Programme (NFP), which aims at encouraging in the population a culture of responsibility and love based on natural values. By contrast, the law is backed by big international organisations like the United Nations and UNICEF, which associate poverty to high birth rates. Countries that refuse to accept similar laws lose the right to receive humanitarian aid.