Reproductive health a defining issue
Contrary to what a local churchman said recently, reproductive health is not just one more issue among the many that we have to consider when choosing our candidates for this coming election.
Occasional reckless and erroneous statements from ecclesiastics are actually no surprise to us anymore. In Church history, false prophets have always arisen. But they sooner or later were exposed, corrected and neutralized. Still we have to be careful and prompt to clarify matters as they come.
Reproductive health happens to be a defining issue, one that can drastically change the complexion of our society, since it goes directly on the spiritual and moral aspects of our life. It just cannot be one more issue to tackle. It is “the” issue.
Just look now at some countries swimming in reproductive health. There’s no correlation between it and its vaunted political, social and economic benefits. What’s obvious is the surge of irreligion and immorality.
As an issue, reproductive health certainly is not simply a matter of opinion, taste or preference. It touches on God’s law insofar as our own nature is concerned. To Christian believers, it clearly goes against natural law, no ifs or buts about it.
The other issues, though with moral implications, are more political, social or economic in character, and we are free to take any positions, with their relative advantages and disadvantages, as long as they all respect the spiritual and moral requirements of our human nature.
Not so with the reproductive health as defined and described by their proponents. It involves not just economics or politics. Its essential features already tamper with our basic spiritual and moral nature.
It’s all-out for contraception, and thus violates the unitive and procreative nature of the marital act. And though our local version does not include abortion yet, it certainly heads toward that direction.
It fosters sexual promiscuity not only among the adults and married, but also among the young. It undermines the virtue of chastity. It weakens parental rights in forming and educating children.
It forces us to subscribe to its tenets and ordinances. Going against them is now considered a criminal offense. This is really funny, because it brags about being pro-choice, ever respectful of people’s rights and freedom.
Besides, it is not an original Filipino initiative. Alien parties, heavy with funding and tricky in their ways, are the main pushers of the idea. It’s now common knowledge that many public officials are on the take from them. It certainly does not promote health.
It is clearly inspired by wild feminist, liberal and materialistic ideologies that are now infesting many Western and developed countries. Among its bizarre ideas is to give women absolute right over their own bodies. God and his laws have no more authority over them. Women are now their own God and law.
It’s truly a part of what is now known as the “culture of death.” But I feel what we have here is more than just conflicts in a culture war. It looks more to me like a war of beliefs.
The powerful people behind the reproductive health have actually waged a persistent propaganda campaign for decades. And they continue, this time busily introducing reproductive health language into other pieces of legislation, like in our Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, etc.
They are also into asking cities and towns to make reproductive health ordinances for their localities. More, they often offer aid purportedly for poverty alleviation, for example, to push their hidden agenda.
They obviously are now enjoying some dividends. They can count on many supporters, lackeys and those open to their ideas. But, for sure, this is not an irreversible phenomenon. The situation simply calls for more active and aggressive reaction from Christian believers.
Obviously the Church hierarchy and clergy will give the guidelines and the inspiration, but it’s the laity who should do the leg work. There are a lot of things that need to be done. An effective organization with the specific mission to counter reproductive health has to be made in different levels and sectors.
At the moment, we need to closely monitor the RH bill now being deliberated upon in Congress. We also have to examine the different candidates as to their stand on the reproductive health and give helpful indications to the people.
To underlie all this should be an abiding effort to have formation, highlighting the true meaning and value of human sexuality, marriage, family, and care for our spiritual and moral life.
(Fr. Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City. Email: roycimagala@gmail.com)
