“Anti-life” by Elica Saenz

The Philippines has been known to be a conservative country because of its deeply rooted religious beliefs that are manifested in its moral values. Despite the separation of church and state, there is no denying that the Catholic Church wields great influence over Philippine politics and society in general. In line with this, it took years for the civil society organizations to have the “Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act” or reproductive health (RH) law to finally be enacted in December 2012 (Melgar et al., 2018) due to church oppositions claiming that the bill is “anti-life” (Robles,2012). Despite the implementation, there are concerns that the government's curriculums remain to emphasize "Filipino Values" on account of the religious pressure when it comes to sexual and health issues rather than fostering comprehensive insight for youths to make educated reproductive decisions (Joven, 2021). Because of these reasons, women and girls in the Philippines, continue to face the biggest challenge of the effects of the fundamentalist belief of the Catholic church on their Reproductive Health Law. 

Marriage as a sacrament, children as the primary end of the family, wives subservient to their husbands, human sexuality as both unitive and procreative and a function of marriage; sex education as the prerogative of parents, and pregnancy at the risk of losing one’s life is rewarded by God, contraception is a grave sin, and abortion is an unspeakable crime are just some of the fundamentalist Catholic teachings that are linked to reproductive health and rights of women (Melgar & Carrera-Pacete, 2017). All of this obstructs the promotion of positive and open communication in sex education by denying easy access to information on contraceptives, condoms, and safe abortions, leaving women to shoulder the burden of the political rhetoric around birth control and family planning. Conservatives claim that this measure is "anti-life," but what about the women whose lives are jeopardized because they are unable to obtain legal abortions? Many of them are victims of sexual abuse, and now we want them to bear responsibility for the outcome of their trauma? Consider the lives of teenage girls who are burdened with the obligation of caring for a human being as a punishment for mistakes and accidents that might have been avoided if they had a better understanding of sexual activities? If their conservative beliefs really cared about “life”, then they should have considered the tragic impact those would create in the lives of women and girls too. Or perhaps they have, they just care more about their thousand years old beliefs regardless of who gets oppressed by it. 

In the present, the effects of these conservative beliefs now lead to the Philippines being the 2nd highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Southeast Asia, with 1.2 million illegal abortions, and a total of 81,169 HIV and AIDS cases reported. 

Sex is a natural biological process of our bodies, it has nothing to do with one’s morality as long as it is consented to. A religious belief should not determine the freedom of others to choose what reproductive decisions they can and cannot make especially if their health and well-being are on the line. Lack of sex education is not an issue only for women, it is for everyone, and yet women and girls seemed to be the only

ones who are targeted to suffer in its consequences. Women’s bodies are not properties of anyone but themselves and it is truly insulting to constantly fight for our rights just so we can be allowed to have control over our own bodies. The Philippines has been long behind the implementation of effective sex education but we’ve come a long way from destigmatizing conservative and patriarchal societal construct in our country, there’s no stopping us now. 

Finally, the Philippines will hold a national election in May 2022, providing an opportunity to elect leaders and policymakers who are knowledgeable about reproductive and health rights, particularly for women, in order to strengthen and preserve our rights. Women empowerment begins with standing up for yourself, choosing yourself, and understanding that you should not have to beg for even the most fundamental human rights.