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Freedom of informed choice
IN HIS first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last year, President Duterte urged the full implementation of the Reproductive Health (RH) Law. He said: “The implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law must be put into full force and effect so that couples, especially the poor, will have freedom of informed choice in the number and spacing of children they can adequately care and provide for, eventually making them more productive members of the labor force.”
A year after, in his second SONA, the President urged the Supreme Court to reconsider the restraining order it issued against subdermal implants that prevented the government from fully implementing the RH Law. “I am not for abortion, I am not for birth control, but certainly I am for giving Filipino family (the choice) of the size ng pamilya (of their family),” said the President.
The Supreme Court then clarified that the government can proceed with the implementation of programs under the RH Law because the injunction order issued was not for the entire family planning supplies but only for two contraceptive implants over questions of being abortifacents.
Statistics show that the country’s maternal mortality rate remains high. Many women die at childbirth due to poverty, lack of access to facilities and professional care. We also have a very high abortion rate. All these can be avoided if people, especially women, are educated about reproductive health.
It must be emphasized that freedom of choice is an integral part of reproductive health. No one is being forced to use one contraceptive over another. Each may choose according to their personal beliefs. In fact, promoting both natural and artificial family planning methods are possible under the Department of Health’s plan. People should keep an open mind about it.
The very essence of the RH Law is the freedom of informed choice. Family planning is a right of couples, especially women, to decide on the size of the family they want. But this program must be backed by information and access to safe methods to planning the number and spacing of children.
The State has a duty to provide basic health services to its people, including reproductive health. With the government vocally promoting the RH Law, every citizen who believes in the right of couples to make an informed choice must support it, too.
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