The Abortion Tragedy in the Philippines

I'm so tired of the gaggle of "Pro-Life" politicians in the Philippines.  You've seen them and unfortunately heard them:  Golez, Pacquiao, Enrile, and our favorite dork of the month, Sotto, harping on about the grave dangers of condoms, pills, and IUDs.  All, of course, propped up by the Philippine Mini-Popes, i.e. the CBCP.

Look, I'm a progressive liberal.  I'm about as liberal as a person can get.  When I say liberal I mean liberal in every way:  an economic liberal, a military liberal ("a dove"), and a social liberal.  I grew up in a liberal family, in a liberal culture, in a liberal country called Norway.

In my country, RH isn't an issue.  It hasn't been an issue since...well...it's never really been an issue.  This is because the Catholic Church holds absolutely no sway in Norway.  None.  The pope never visits us because we honestly don't want him to.  (We think he's a bigot, to be quite honest with you.)  In my country the government's been giving out free condoms and birth control pills since the 1960s,  and the state doesn't interfere in a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body.

Democratic Party Platform Endorses Marriage Equality

In a series of speeches peppered repeatedly with references of the right of same-sex couples to marry, including from First Lady Michelle Obama and high profile Latino Catholic politicians, the first night of the Democratic National Convention in the U.S. was very memorable.

A huge congratulations to my American Democrat friends, whose party has, as of today, officially adopted a platform that solidly supports marriage equality for all.  This is the first time a major U.S. political party has officially endorsed same-sex marriage, and it's a very, very big moment for equality in America.

Under the heading "Freedom to Marry," the 2012 Democratic National Platform states:

Sotto's March of Shame Goes On and On

Shamed Senator Vicente Sotto, of the Nationalist People's Coalition, keeps digging his hole of ignorance deeper and deeper.

Senator, it's time to put the shovel down.

We all saw him recently crying in the Senate during his passionate attack on the "big, bad" RH Bill (which has been proposed for more than a decade now), in which he used out-dated "facts" and was caught red-handed plagiarizing the intellectual property of no less than five bloggers.  He then crassly dared the bloggers whose writings he pirated, to sue him.  But that wasn't enough it seems.

It's no secret that Sotto is a Roman Catholic right-winger when it comes to social issues.

He's loud and proud in his opposition to women's right to make reproductive health decisions for themselves...

We've Been Warned (Again): Gayness Destroyed Rome!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Straight Folks, the Shame is Ours

As I write this it is a new year, and 2012 promises to be another good one for the gay and lesbian community, particularly in the West.

2011 was a banner year on which to build.  From the removal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the U.S. military, to the Australian Labour Party changing its platform to support marriage equality.  From same-sex marriage becoming legal in New York state, to Denmark announcing that it will be upgrading its partnership law to full marriage equality.  From civil unions being instated in the biggest Catholic-majority country on the planet (Brazil), to the U.K.'s Prime Minister announcing that British foreign aid will be greatly reduced to those countries which fail to protect and guarantee the rights of LGBTs.  And from the swearing-in of the world's first openly gay male head of state (the new Prime Minister of Belgium), to the Psychological Association of the Philippines (finally!) announcing its support for the Anti-Discrimination Bill.

Now we await the good news to come in 2012:

• Washington state's governor has endorsed marriage equality and pledged to make her state the next to have same-sex marriage;

• The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California will issue a ruling in the Prop 8 case by May, which legal analysts are 99.99% sure will make marriage equality legal once again in America's most populous state (a broadened case may even end up in the U.S. Supreme Court by 2013);

• Both Germany and Finland have marriage equality upgrade bills in the legislative docket (both already have partnership laws in place);

• and France's president Sarkozy is expected to endorse marriage equality before the April 22nd national elections (the opposition socialists, who have included same-sex marriage in their platform, have made the issue a cornerstone of the campaign, promising to bring marriage equality to France if they win a majority.  Their candidate, Francois Hollande, is currently polling at least 10 points ahead of Sarkozy, by the way).

Why I'm A Liberal Christian

The Bishop of Borg, Norway.  Yep, she's a woman.  Deal with it.

Sometimes I get the feeling that many Filipinos have a hard time accepting that someone can be a Christian and a liberal at the same time.  It's funny because, once you get outside of Southeast Asia (and Africa), you'll find that many Christians are in fact quite liberal.  This is especially true where I'm from, where liberal Christians FAR outnumber the conservative ones.

It may stem from simple misunderstandings.  Some may believe that if a person is very liberal, he is either an atheist or not a "true" Christian.  These certainly aren't true.

Being a liberal Christian doesn't mean "anything goes,"  and it doesn't mean we don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  Liberal Christians have morals, values, standards, and faith in Christ, too.  But what sets us apart from conservative Christians is that we liberals use our brains in order to think and reason, rather than simply surrender our minds to our religious leaders.

When Does Life Begin?

Implanted embryo. The start of a human, but not a human.

"Every biologist would agree that life begins at conception."

 

I heard that once during a debate, said by a passionate anti-choice person. Although passionate, he is also wrong.  I'm a biologist and I do not agree that life begins at conception, nor do any of my current colleagues, nor did any of my professors in univeristy, nor do the vast majority of doctors where I'm from.  This isn't because we hate life or babies, it's because the evidence to back up such a claim simply isn't there.

A Reproductive Health Bill Headache

A more recent post discussing RH (and abortion) in the PH can be read by clicking here.

Apparently for the past few years there has been a lot of hubbub in the Philippines over a proposed Reproductive Health Bill.  As a non-Filipino I never really gave it much thought, until it was brought to my attention in an email I received from a concerned man who is worried that gay rights will lead to legalised abortion via the passage of what he called the "liberal reproductive health law."  His premise was that same-sex marriage causes numerous societal problems, listing drug legalisation and abortion as examples.  He also cited Norway as an example of a country where both abortion and drugs are legal because of same-sex unions.

Honestly the argument he makes is confusing.  First, there is no evidence from any country that legalizing same-sex marriage leads to drug legalisation or other social problems.  Second, drugs are actually not legal in Norway.  He may be confusing Norway with the Netherlands, a country to the south of Scandinavia, where personal use of marijuana is legal but other drugs are not.

As far as abortion goes, it has been legal in Norway since 1979 (and in the Netherlands since 1981) -- 22 and 29 years, respectively, before same-sex marriage became legal in the two countries.  The two have no bearing upon each other; same-sex marriage did not cause abortion legalisation, nor has it caused an increase in abortion rates.

This brings us to the Philippines' controversial Reproductive Health Bill: House Bill No. 03.  Based on a reading of the full text of the bill, it seeks to promote information on and access to both natural and modern family planning methods that are medically safe and legally permissible.  It seeks to ensure an environment where both women and couples have the freedom of informed choice as to which type of family planning they choose to use, according to their needs, personal convictions, and religious beliefs.  That's the extent.

This is what all the fuss is about?  This is what is deemed as a scary, liberal, "D.E.A.T.H." (pro-death, euthanasia, abortion, two-child policy, homosexuality) bill?  Really?? 

What's strange is that some people say Europe is evil because we have abortion.  But you don't have to investigate very deeply to discover that Western European abortion rates are actually the lowest in the world.   In the Netherlands, there are nine abortions per every one-thousand pregnancies. In Norway there are roughly fifteen abortions per one-thousand pregnancies.  But did you know that the abortion rate in the Philippines is averaged at twenty-seven per every one-thousand pregnancies?  Abortion is illegal in the Philippines, yet its abortion rate exceeds even that of the United States (23:1,000).

In Norway the parliament passed a reproductive health bill of its own last year. Well it actually wasn't a new bill, it was more of an upgrade.  We've already had very liberal reproductive health policies since the 1960s.  The new Act is an initiative to cut the abortion rate in half by 2013, by making birth control pills absolutely free to girls aged 16 to 20.  The law now states that it is every young woman's reproductive health right to have access to a free supply of birth control pills, paid for by the government.

A study conducted in two Norwegian cities in 2008 showed that providing women aged 20-24 with free birth control (the pill, injection, patches, spirals, and vaginal rings) cut the abortion rate in those cities in half.  The government was so impressed that it drafted a new bill to subsidise the cost of hormonal contraceptives, with the aim of halving the national abortion rate.  The bill had wide support from all political parties and became law on the 1st of January, 2011.

I'm quite surprised that some Filipinos, including the man who emailed me, think House Bill 5043 is "liberal" and "wicked."  It looks like a very conservative and cautious bill to me.  I understand full well that the Catholic Church doesn't like the bill, and I know that H.E. Archbishop Oscar Cruz says it will "lead to the implementation of an immoral policy."  If they honestly believe that, they are within their right to say so, but I for one cannot see how giving Filipinos the basic option to decide family planning matters on their own is either liberal, wicked, or immoral.  The Filipino people are not children, and they should not be treated as such.

Of course there are other "grave concerns" surrounding the bill, including the much-feared implementation of sex education in the schools.  This seems to be the boogeyman under the bed for many conservatives.  I suppose the status quo of teenagers swapping STDs and getting pregnant is the best way to go? 

I know that if you already don't like Norway, this next bit of information will really seal the deal.  Not only do we have comprehensive sex education in the schools, but students are able to get free condoms from the school nurse anytime.  Birth control pills for girls are also available for free from school nurses, starting at age 16.  Condoms and pills are also available for free from government-run Youth Health Centres which can be found in every community.  What's more, teenagers can order condoms online for free and have them delivered to their home two days later (up to 20 condoms at a time), paid for by the Norwegian Health Department.  Imagine that ever happening in the Philippines.

But in all seriousness, there are very big differences (obviously) between the policies of our two countries. Nordic governments tend to base their policies on research rather than religion, and provide extensive public education programs using a wide range of media. The end results speak for themselves: lower teen pregnancy rates, lower STD infection rates, lower abortion rates.  Teenage abstinence-only education doesn't do that, by the way; proper sex education and access to contraceptives does.

If the goal is to protect the health, dignity, and well-being of the people, then it is high time to use methods that show results. Hopefully for the Philippines, the Reproductive Health Bill will pass, and soon.  And if it does it will at least be a step in the right direction.