By Anthony Perez, Pro-Life Philippines

Marami ang sumusuporta sa RH Bill, o ang HB 4244, kahit hindi pa man nila ito nabasa. Layunin ng seryeng ito na ilahad mismo ang HB 4244 at ang kanyang mga probisyong hindi naaayon sa ating pagka-Pilipino at pagka-Kristyano. Ilalahad din ang mga ibang isyung nakapaloob sa HB 4244 upang lalo nating maintindihan kung ano ba talaga ang layon ng saligang batas na ito at kung bakit ito dapat tutulan at ibasura.

Simulan natin sa Section 2, Declaration of Policy.

¨  The State recognizes and guarantees the exercise of the universal basic human right to reproductive health by all persons, particularly of parents, couples and women, consistent with their religious convictions, cultural beliefs and the demands of responsible parenthood. Toward this end, there shall be no discrimination against any person on grounds such as sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, disabilities, political affiliation and ethnicity.

Ang konsepto ng “Reproductive Health” ay galing sa mga banyagang bansa at ipinapahiwatig nito na ang lahat ng tao ay may karapatan sa “responsible, safe and satisfying sex life”; nakapaloob din sa konsepto ng Reproductive Health na karapatan ng tao na pumili kung paano, kailan at gaano karami sya mag-aanak.

Ang ibig sabihin nito – Walang pinipiling tao ang RH. Kahit sino, may karapatan sa RH:

1. Babae man o Lalaki.

2. Kasal man o hindi

3. Ano man ang kanyang edad. Kahit daw ang bata, may karapatan sa RH.

4. Kahit anong sabihin ng iyong relihyon, ang karapatan mo sa RH ang dapat manaig.

Samakatuwid, sa Section 2 pa lang ng RH bill ay tinuturuan na tayo na ang karapatan sa Reproductive Health ay higit pa sa mga nakagisnan nating mga kabutihang asal at kaugalian, kahit ano pa ang sabihin ng relihiyon o konsensya natin.

MANILA, March 26, 2012—  After a group of university  student leaders declared its  intention to campaign  against lawmakers opposed  to the Reproductive Health  (RH) bill, several youth  organizations representing  an even bigger number of  young people blasted the  mistaken notion that  majority of the youth are easily swayed by pro-RH propaganda.

Noisy minority

As for the statement made by the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP) national spokesperson JC Tejano that  “we are ready to launch the full force of the youth against anti-RH legislators,” Youth Pinoy! President Eilleen Esteban remarked, “To me the statement is irresponsible and very assuming. It’s a hollow threat, propaganda to make them seemingly look huge but the truth is they are just a noisy minority.”

“SCAP is in no position to make wholesale statements about the voice of the youth on the RH issue. They are not even a quarter of the majority of the voting youth that they claimed to be, even if we talk of the numbers game,” she  continued.

“You want to talk about the voice of the youth that reckons real numbers?  Talk to millions of Catholic youth based in our 86 dioceses, the Catholic schools and the trans-parochial organizations with millions of members that extend globally — then we could talk of a threatening number.”

“In my opinion, the youth are the most intelligent sector in the voting population,” Esteban said, adding that she was at the PPCRV Command Center during the 2010 election, mobilizing millions of young people who wanted to take part in the historic first automated election.

“And their power to move on causes they truly believe in is just so spectacular that it’s almost miraculous. They are the vigilant and idealistic slice of the pie that inquires, critically studies and acts on a sound judgment. What made SCAP think that the youth will just give away their precious votes just because the candidate voted against the bill?! That’s wishful thinking.”

RH bill benefits only a few

“We the members of Federation of National Youth Organization are really standing up against the RH bill because we know that it will only destroy our family, our values, our morality, lalo na ng mga kabataan,” said Federation of National Youth Organizations (FNYO) Council Member Maria Lea Dasigan.

“Kung ‘di pag-aaralan,  hindi natin maiintindihan  na ang RH bill ay para  lamang sa kapakanan ng  mga iilan at hindi talaga  para sa kapakanan ng mga  kabataan.”

“Personally,” she added, “I  don’t believe na marami  [silang mga pro-RH] na parang nananakot na majority of the voting population are young and for the RH bill. I really don’t think so.”

The FNYO has organizations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and its members have recently come up with a signature campaign, the result of which they intend to send to Congress.

Part of the group’s preparations for the 2013 elections is educating its various organizations on electoral candidates who are true to pro-life legislation.

‘I am part of the youth and I oppose the RH bill’

Even students of the University of the Philippines pointed out that newly elected University Student Council (USC) chair Heart Diño, who expressed support for the RH bill at the SCAP press conference, does not reflect their convictions.

“Heart Diño’s seat in the USC  was favored by a mere  17.02% of UP’s student  population. Heart was voted  into the council by 3,290  students out of roughly  19,300. Tell me, does Heart  Diño speak the voice of UP’s  studentry? Ideally, yes. But  in reality, no,” stated Kiboy  Tabada, convenor of UP  Against the RH Bill.

“Heart was reported to have said that lawmakers ‘should not belittle the youth vote,’ that ‘they should listen to what the youth are actually saying.’ Listen to the youth? Or listen to you? I am part of the youth and I oppose the RH Bill. I believe that a lawmaker’s vote for the RH Bill is a vote against the real welfare of the youth, against the future of the youth. And I speak for the youth who stand against it and for the rest of my generation who do not know that it’s their future that’s at stake. On this matter, Heart Diño does not speak my voice. By what strong mandate can Heart speak the youth’s voice?”

Pro-life legislators can bank on youth support

The engineering student also reiterated his group’s all-out support for legislators who act on a genuine, life-affirming concern for the youth and for the future of the country.

“To pro-life legislators, stand your ground. The youth are with you. The youth know that you have our best interests in mind in your opposition to the RH Bill. There is no honor in instilling fear to get you to vote for the measure. There is no honor in ruining someone else’s credibility to forward our own. We from UP Diliman ought to know this. We remain ready to speak for and defend our position by its merits. And we will stand with and campaign for you by your merits as real representatives of the youth’s welfare,” Tabada declared.

John Walter Juat, also of UP Against the RH Bill, said that though the pro-RH student group was free to present its views, “I want to firmly say that they do not represent even close to the majority of those in the youth sector.”

‘Peaceful but strong assertiveness’ marks anti-RH campaign

“While the pro-RH camp may choose to go with ‘wrath,’” he continued (referring to the news item’s title ‘RH bill foes face the wrath of student groups’), “the anti-RH camp will choose the peaceful but strong assertiveness to convince our legislators to take a stand against this divisive bill, and support the pro-life legislators in the next election. The pro-RH individuals noted in the article may be university leaders, but they do not intimidate us, even a little bit. The fight to preserve our nation’s pro-life, pro-family, pro-God culture will continue and will not stop until this RH bill is finally trashed.”

World Youth Alliance Asia Pacific (WYAAP) regional director Renelyn Tan blasts the misleading assertion that the RH bill will empower women as well as provide a solution to poverty.

Youth know RH bill is  not the answer

“Working with young people  in World Youth Alliance  Asia Pacific allows me to see  the great concern they have  on issues relating to women  and children. Our members  clearly do not want women  dying during childbirth or  children missing out on  opportunities but unfortunately, the current RH bill version does not provide a holistic way of addressing the fundamental causes of poverty and challenges to true women empowerment,” Tan said.

In an earlier statement, Tan explained that she and other young people find it unfortunate that the media often portrays young people as “callous, who don’t know when to stop. But this is not true,” she asserted.

“Kaming mga kabataan, we are all made for excellence and we really hope that our government, our institutions, our leaders and civil society will be able to provide [the necessary conditions] because our lives should be seen as an expression of our intrinsic and inviolable dignity. We would like to reiterate that young people are not only sexual beings.”

“Much has been said about the RH bill, but it cannot be an issue totally conclusive of a young person’s future,” Esteban of Youth Pinoy! added.

“Education comprises the biggest chunk, though we’re not talking about sex education here but good quality education that leads to an individual’s progress.” (CBCP for Life)

http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=6652

Official Statement against RH Bill:

Federation of National Youth

Organizations (FNYO) weSTAND!

Click the link : http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=6687

(by Eloi Abanador, SFL Singapore)
Many parents say, “We don’t care if it is a boy or a girl, as long as the baby is healthy?” But what happens if the baby is not healthy? Is it still worth having a child diagnosed with special needs?

The battle has been engaged for the future lives of children with special needs! Children with Down syndrome are the primary targets of abortion due to the availability of pre-natal testing.  It is alarming to know that even the parents who are supposed to protect the lives of the unborn babies are trapped with the prevailing culture of death.  Mothers who received the diagnosis that their unborn baby have Down Syndrome shared that they experienced extreme pressure to abort their babies from their medical providers based on the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s March 2005 study.  An average of 90% of Down Syndrome babies are being aborted today!  Eileen Haupt states, “If only a mother expecting a special needs child could know who her child is.  If only she could feel the joy and the love that she will feel for her baby if she welcomes her into the world.  If only she knew, she would never abort.”

Pope Benedict XVI said that “Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.”  As Catholics, we strongly should acknowledge the inherent worth of every person created by God.  We have different roles to play in fighting for life especially for those who cannot speak for themselves. If only Catholics will all unite in defending life, then the culture of life will be surely restored.
On a personal note, I choose to defend the lives of the future diagnosed unborn babies with special needs.  As a Special Education teacher, I was able to witness a glimpse of what the parents of children with special needs are experiencing – great and rewarding joy beyond compare!

I honor the parents of children with special needs for CHOOSING LIFE.  I pray that parents who are considering to abort their unborn special needs baby would see the beauty of LIFE that they can share to all of us.  This is my own version of “10 Things in life that I learned from Children with Special Needs“:

1. All things in life are blessings, no matter how simple they are.
2. There is no room for insecurities and self-pity because we are all special and unique in the eyes of God!
3. Showing weaknesses is an opportunity to receive love and care from others.
4. Do not be discouraged from experiencing any failures as there are still opportunities to try again and again because you are ALIVE!
5. Life is beautiful and full of joy.  Be a source of inspiration and miracle to others.
6. Never miss any opportunity to touch the lives of your family and the world around you.
7. The pure innocence that each child possesses, that comes from God alone, will help lead you away from sin.
8. Trust in God despite the struggles, sufferings and even condemnation.
9. Be an angel in disguise here on earth by radiating the image of God to others.
10. Life here on earth is only temporal.  Our true home is in heaven where we truly belong.

We commemorate the “Feast of Annunciation” on March 25.  This is the moment when God became man in the womb of a virgin in Nazareth in the most awesome event in history.  I believe that Mother Mary will be our ultimate intercessor as we fight against the attack of prenatal life!  Thank you Mother Mary for teaching us that conception is the beginning of every human life.  Our Lady of Annunciation, please intercede for all the unborn babies.

http://cfcffl.net/index.php/choosing-and-defending-the-unborn