or log in with

Labor Pains Unlimited

Posted on 03/22/11 by User_image_bgKristine

User_image_bg Kristine View Profile
Member since 18 March 2011
View Website
  • 52 Posts
  • 13 Comments

When I met Teresita last year, she was pregnant with her 16th child. At the time, she claimed she was 39 years old but the health workers can’t really be sure. She couldn’t present a birth certificate and on her last visit to the local health center the previous year, she said she was 36.

It’s not only her age she can’t remember accurately. She also wasn’t certain about how many pregnancies she has had. She got pregnant 16 times, she said, but her sister Arlene argued that it’s actually 17; one was aborted.

Arlene, who came with her for prenatal check-up, was also expecting. It would be her 9th baby.

I asked them if they really wanted that many children. They smiled coyly before Teresita answered, “It just happened.”

Teresita didn’t finish elementary school; she only got to second grade before dropping out. She can barely write her own name. Her sister was luckier; she reached sixth grade.

The two women live in a remote area in southern Philippines, far from the capital where a vicious debate on the reproductive health bill is being waged. The proposed law requires access to and public funding for modern family planning methods, reproductive health and sex education in schools, and improved maternal health services. It also provides for maximum public health insurance benefits for people with HIV/AIDS, breast and reproductive tract cancers, obstetric complications and other serious reproductive system illnesses.

Different sectors and groups have already weighed in on the issue. The Catholic Church has voiced its vehement opposition to the bill, contending that it would violate the sanctity of life, destroy family values and promote abortion. Economists and academicians have published position papers in support of the bill, warning of a rapid population growth that could worsen poverty and impede economic development.

The scale of contention ranges from sound articulation of arguments to preposterous name-calling. RH bill advocates are accused of being morally corrupt while anti-RH groups are charged with religious bigotry. Meanwhile, the only sound from women like Arlene and Teresita are their pained screams while giving birth.

While the religious are making it a moral issue and economists are treating it as a population issue, the reproductive health discourse is primarily an issue of rights for Arlene and Teresita. Too bad they don’t even know about it and they’re too far from the debate floor to be heard.

Read More →

Comments

  • on 03/23/11, by Jeanne:

    It's a shame that policy makers and religious leaders cannot discus women's health without turning it into a moral debate. Having 16 children (or any number of children for that matter) should be a choice that a woman makes using her knowledge of reproductive and maternal health. It is up to the state to ensure that girls and women are educated about sex and family planning options as well as making reproductive health services available to them. As I see it, maybe this is a moral issue - it's a moral imperative that woman have access to information about their bodies and their health, and that they are free to exercise their choices based on that information.

    • on 03/23/11, by mudkip:

      Reproductive education is not an issue that should be left to the state. It is in the state's best interest for the population to grow exponentially while remaining ignorant, so it is not surprising that they do a terrible job.
  • twinkiehouse

    on 03/23/11, by twinkiehouse:

    The Catholic Church is the most serious threat to women's rights in the developing world. Their bible clearly teaches that [women are the property of their husbands](http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/women/long.html), so it is hardly a surprise that they would oppose a bill promoting women's rights.

  • on 03/31/11, by jpamplin:

    The Bible does not teach that women are property of their husbands. The Catholic Church does teach that having children is a blessing and should not be hindered for convenience. However, it's clear that the culture (influenced by the Church's view of gender roles) in the Philippines may be influencing women's social status. Clearly the women need access to better health care and education. Like most countries, it seems the right and left oppose each other so strongly that they cannot view the situation objectively enough to present arguments in such a way that could lead to productive discussion. The academics need to back off of the population control argument and push for better healthcare and education for women. The Church needs to push for general religious freedom.

  • on 04/01/11, by Kristine:

    Thanks for all your comments! Part of the problem is conservatives are portraying modern family planning methods as tantamount to abortion and some contraceptives are even labelled as abortifacients. The Church only approves of natural methods (rhythm method, LAM, etc). Another strong objection to the RH bill is that it aims to integrate reproductive health and sex education into the school curriculum. The opposition believes that this will promote sexual promiscuity among young people and that educating kids about sex should be the sole responsibility of their parents. Of course in this day and age, teenagers just get their sex education from the internet and the media.

  • in the not-too-distant future, by a New User: