While there is an urgent need for government to address the growing population and its concomitant ills, women should not be taken to task or bear the burden of its population management program.
The two proposed bills; the two-kids policy authored by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and the five-year moratorium on childbirth proposed by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, are viewed as anti-women and unrealistic by women’s organizations and a violation of women’s reproductive rights.
Lawyer Rhodora Roy-Raterta, executive director of the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines, a nongovernment organization advocating family planning and reproductive health, was quoted as saying that teaching abstinence is “unrealistic” and “discriminatory.” She said the bill discriminates against those “who don’t believe in marriage or those who can’t get married, like gays and lesbians.”
Another perspective on the issue is presented by Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos who warned that abortion rates would spill over the 500,000 per year mark once the two-kids policy and the five-year moratorium on childbirth are enforced. She said abortion clinics “are going to enjoy brisk business as poor would-be parents scamper to comply with the birth moratorium and avoid penalties for their illegal third child.” Vehemently opposing the two measures, Marcos said any population control policy, even if “well-meaning” would transform into “mass infanticide.”
Data from the Commission on Population show that abortion rates now stand at 480,000 a year, or 1,315 abortions each day.
Although Barbers has said he is not discouraging women from bearing children within a five-year gap, mothers must be able to pay for their childbirth and not rely on government to shoulder their expenses. Barbers should really talk to the Department of Health and check if the government expenditure on maternal healthcare has caused or even made a dent in the budget deficit we are drowning in.
We believe that population management should be addressed especially in this age when resources are dwindling and life has become a veritable rat race. But population growth should not only be linked to women’s reproductive rights. Its socio-cultural, political and economic aspects must be taken into consideration or these measures will only serve to further divide our people.
