On an issue on which no Filipino these days can afford to be neither hot nor cold, Vice President Jejomar Binay would like to equivocate both sides of the reproductive health bill controversy.

Binay said he is both prolife and prochoice in the great debate over the RH bill, or the proposed Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development, now pending in Congress.

Condom use fine

He said he respects a woman’s right to her body and thinks the use of condoms is fine.

But he draws the line at abortion and “abortifacient” pills, he said.

“My position is consistent. As long as there is life, even for one second, that’s abortion already. That’s not right anymore,” he said in an interview.

He said women should have the freedom not to get pregnant, without resorting to abortion.

In other words, the vice president supports freedom of choice for women, so long as they do not “cross the line to abortion.”

Just prevention

On the use of condoms, Binay said he saw nothing wrong with them, as they only prevented conception.

“With condoms, there’s no abortion. It’s just prevention,” he said.

His position on birth control pills is “it depends.”

“Those abortifacient ones should not be allowed. Those drugs will cause abortion. But those only used for prevention (are fine) because there’s no life involved yet,” he said.

House Bill No. 4244 (the Senate has its own version) mandates state support for voluntary family planning and universal access to reproductive health services.

The bill has run into strong opposition from the Catholic Church, which says it is against the idea of the state intruding into the “divine gift” of procreation by promoting the use of artificial contraceptives.

Prolife advocates, who consider as abortifacients some contraceptives such as pills and intrauterine devices, have also criticized the bill. They also reject a state-sponsored distribution of condoms and other contraceptives for fear that this might lead to a culture of promiscuity.

In the House itself, opposition by “prolife” lawmakers has led to delays in the bill’s passage. Similar bills have gotten nowhere in previous congresses.

President Aquino’s position that he is for responsible parenthood and that his administration wanted to give couples an informed choice on family planning methods was loudly protested by the Catholic clergy and lay groups.

On March 25, some 40,000 opponents of the RH bill took part in a protest at the Rizal Park.

Malacañang continues to engage the Church in a “continuing dialog” on the controversial measure.

The bill has also sparked controversies at the local government level. The barangay (village) council of Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa issued an ordinance banning the sale of condoms and other contraceptives in their locality without a physician’s subscription. This was met with protests from pro-RH bill residents of Ayala Alabang.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo has issued a memorandum to barangay councils warning them that issuing ordinances banning the sale of contraceptives without a doctor’s prescription in their localities was beyond the powers or authority of local governments.

Philip Tubeza, Inquirer.net