I know I have a very low(zero I think)number of readers but hopefully this'll help.

We need concerned citizens of the Philippines to sign the petition:
"Declaration of Support for the Immediate Passage of the Reproductive Health Bill into Law"

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/rhan2008/

Let our voices be heard amidst the din the irrational (religious) Right is making.

I watched the Reproductive Health Bill special of the ANC Debate show, Square Off. Instead of inviting student debate teams, they invited congressmen, professors and government officials to debate the issue. Of course, it smells of trouble. Clearly, they shouldn't have used their usual format for this special as most people do not know how debate works. The clear example is the slow speed of speech the speakers use while giving their arguments.The emcee even commented how refreshing to hear their speeches at such slow speeds.

As I'm pro-reproductive health bill, my opinions may be biased but I think I am open enough to discussion and will readily change my views if proven wrong. Though, the evidence and arguments should be of great magnitude to convince me that the RH bill shouldn't be approved.

I find that the negative group gave useless arguments overall. There were glimmers of brilliance and points that if properly framed and argued would have helped their side win but they wasted the chance. Besides, they used such stupid arguments(Natural law? Pope John Paul II? We shouldn't help the poor?) that the affirmative side was even able to rebutt them without even giving contrary evidence.

They also used dirty tactics. Ad hominem attacks are a favorite. Citing debunked studies. Citing studies which are so old that they preceded the Philippine Independence from Spain. Cherry picking data. Putting words into the mouths of the affirmative side. Fallacious arguments like ad populum and appeal to emotion. Lying. Twisting the truth(No Cong., they would not spend 5000 pesos to have a ligation if they already have 5 children to worry about. And no, not all LGUs allow their constituents access to cheap or free contraception). What the F?

Of course,their arguments could probably sway some of the people HAD the affirmative not countered them completely. I also fell for the decreasing fertility rate canard when I first encountered it that I had to rethink my beliefs and arguments again. The answer of course is that, firstly, the fertility rate is just an average and not representative of the whole population. I think the distribution is very skewed. In addition, the fertility rate is still not equal to the desired fertility rate of women, which I think, is the most important thing to consider in reproductive health.

The affirmative side also had some problems. During cross-examinations, they also use ad hominem attacks though to a lesser degree. And they failed to answer some arguments properly. And they speak so slowly.

What I like about the debate is that it didn't end up going into the messy icky discussion about abortion, contraception and Life. Even though, the negative group was really trying to draw the affirmative into that area. The affirmative succeeded in highlighting the repercussions of the bill on the situation of the poor while the negative succeeded in showing that they really don't care for the poor and that they really hate it when people enjoy having sex.

What I wanted to hear but didn't was clarification on why the negative oppose the bill when it doesn't violate the rights. And how NOT passing the bill will help the poor.  I also wanted to hear the arguments of the affirmative about (what I think is one of the biggest issues regarding passing the bill) the protecting the unborn found in our Constitution.

A more comprehensive and clearer recap might follow this post.

There's been a lot of hoolah-balooh with the recent revival of the Responsible Parenthood and Population Management Act of 2005(HB3773). The Church(you know what church) is calling all its minions to help stop the passing of the bill. They even printed a Manifesto that criticizes the bill. And they plan to withheld communion to the congressmen and women supporting the it. Take about Noli Me Tangere and Spanish Colonization.

I haven't read it(can anyone send me a copy?) but according to an article in Phil Star, it was full of lies and fallacious reasoning. What strikes me as the stupidest belief by the Church is that this bill will pave the way for the legalization of abortion. How they manage to connect the uplifting of reproductive rights of women and abortion is beyond me? Somehow using their sex-deprived egos, they formed this correlation. Just because it happened in other countries, doesn't mean it will happen here. Besides there are tons of countries where abortion is outlawed but there is widespread reproductive health education policies and programs.

Maybe they just hate it that women will learn that they don't have to get pregnant when they have sex. That sex could be used for fun and not just creation. Maybe they just want that all those "promiscuous" will get STIs and help make the HIV/AIDS an epidemic here in the country because, all together now, using condoms is a sin!

Haven't they heard that the recent uplifting of the ban on sex education in Manila was welcomed by not only the NGOs but also the families in Manila themselves? The Church say that they are all for the family but really what they want is for people not to have sex because priests can't have them. Sorry ad hominem but it's just so annoying.

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Something to think about:
Use of Condoms is a sin because it prevents the meeting of the egg and the sperm (Actually they still believe that the sperm contains the soul) yet, withdrawal is not. Spilling of seed, anyone?

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LOLZ: 

"Francisco also points out that the bill also prohibits persons "to act from conscience" because it threatens up to six months imprisonment for "any health care service provider who shall ... refuse to perform voluntary sterilisation and ligation" and for "any public official ... who shall prohibit or intentionally restrict" the provision of services outlined in the bill." Source

What? They are really getting desperate. Remember that ability of patients to leave the hospital even without the consent of physicians? Usually, the physicians's conscience says to sedate that individual and bind that person to the bed until he or she receives treatment. But no, the law says no. Nobody seems to protest against that.

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There are some questionable points in the bill but I think these will all be fixed during the House and Senate readings. Their lord knows how long before bills  become acts in this country.

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This is my 300th post. Wow!

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Assignment: Counter this article.

Lito Atienza continues with his ramblings.

"Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza had a thing or two to say against population control advocates as he warned the people 'not to be stampeded into perdition.' 'Here we go again, blaming every unborn child for our economic problems,' said Atienza, a staunch pro-lifer and long-time leader of the Pro-Life Movement of the Philippines. He pointed out that the solution to the present 'food crisis' is a strong agricultural production program, which the present government is pursuing and not birth control. Atienza stressed that the Constitution is pro-life and birth control is a clear violation of the law."link

He may be right in that a strong agricultural production program will really help in the food crisis but birth control is not "a clear violation of the law." It is not. Preconception birth control is not illegal. Lito Atienza is under the impression that birth control means murdering babies, in other words, abortion. And of course, the Constitution is pro-life. All people are pro-life in a sense. The ones labeled pro-Choice are pro-life too but they value a real living person more than a hypothetical entity.

Since when did birth control mean murder or killing a person. Even with an expanded definition of human life(meaning, including the zygote and embryonic stages), most of the artificial birth control methods do not result in killing a person(the notable exception being the Pill). This stupid belief of his(and his "Pro-life" group) is really annoying. The sperm alone is not a human being. The ovum alone is not a human being. Actually, the zygote(the first product of the union of sperm and ovum) alone is not really a human being(you still need the uterine wall).

To be clear, we(the ones pro-birth control) don't blame the unborn. We blame the poor policies of the government resulting in a population crisis and subsequent inequitable distribution and/or lack of resources. We blame the irresponsible parents. But we mostly blame the policies.

I find this to comment in a blogpost I read to aptly describe the pro-life group in the Philippines:

"The thing is, these types of pro-lifers aren’t 'pro-life' at all. They are anti-sex. Or, more accurately, anti-sex without the risk of pregnancy. These types are of the opinion that people shouldn’t have sex if they don’t want children, because that kind of sex breeds a 'culture of death'...."

And why is sex bad? Because to them sex should only be used for procreation and nothing else. Going by their logic, people who are sterile, infertile, old and the like should not have sex because it is a bad/a sin.

"Atienza said that population control is a mere 'alibi for failure' and definitely a disastrous direction that will lead to the wrong solution. 'From where I am sitting now, I could see an abundance of natural wealth that could sustain a healthy population growth rate. We just have to maximize and fully develop our potentials and ensure equitable distribution of its benefits,' Atienza said."link

Atienza is spouting nonsense again. His last sentence holds some truth but it is just more rhetoric. He doesn't even propose a method to how we are supposed to achieve what he is saying. But what really annoys me is the "alibi for failure" part. I would very much like to ask him whose failure is it in the first place? Considering that the Catholic church and all the Pro-life Anti-Contraception crowd were the people responsible for "responsible parenthood" throughout the past, the population problem with all the attached crises(rice, housing, health, human rights, etc) is their failure.