APSN | Contraceptive bill makes progress after 14 years

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Contraceptive bill makes progress after 14 years

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Floyd Whaley, Manila - Despite opposition from the powerful Roman Catholic Church, a bill that would mandate sex education in schools and subsidise contraceptives has moved ahead after being stalled in the Philippine Congress for 14 years.

"May God have mercy on our Congress," Angel Lagdameo, an archbishop in the central Philippines, one of a number of church leaders who condemned the move, said.

The Philippine House of Representatives voted on Monday to close debate and allow amendments on the bill - not final approval but an important procedural step.

The Reproductive Health Bill, as the measure is known, must also be approved by the Senate and signed by the President, Benigno Aquino, before it can become law but Mr Aquino backs the bill and his allies control the Senate.

The bill would direct the Department of Health to distribute "medically safe, legal, accessible, affordable and effective reproductive healthcare services nationwide," and requires "age-appropriate reproductive health and sexuality education" from the fifth grade through to high school.

Contraceptives are legal and can be bought readily here but, unlike some other Asian nations with fast-growing populations, the Philippines has no distribution program to help the poor obtain them.

Mr Aquino has said that the Philippines must reduce its high birth rate among the poor. His policy received a rare endorsement on Sunday from the World Health Organisation, which said in a statement that "the proposed law will fundamentally enable the government to meet its commitments to its citizens".

The agency noted that the number of women dying in the Philippines of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth increased by 36 per cent between 2006 and last year.

Although their church condemns all use of contraceptives, Filipino Catholics' views are divided. A group of prominent Catholic academics issued a statement arguing their religious beliefs led them to support the measure, and saying they were "deeply disturbed and saddened" by the church's opposition to a law "that promises to improve the wellbeing of Filipino families, especially the lives of women, children, adolescents, and the poor".