MANILA, Philippines - Maternal mortality rate has increased in countries where legally abortion is on demand, like the United States, Canada, and Norway. It has decreased 35% all over the world during the same 28 years from 1980 to 2008. The lowest maternal mortality rate is in Ireland where laws are pro-life and abortion is illegal and highest in Nepal where abortion is on demand. "The facts are clear that we can protect women and their babies with adequate health care, not abortion," quoting the director of MCCL Global Outreach speaking to Life News.com. The Philippine annual population growth rate is somewhere between 1.6% and 1.8% per year according the United Nations Population Commission. And the World Health Organization (Western Pacific website) reports that Philippine average population growth rate between 2000 and 2007 was 2.04% which is below the 2.1% needed for replacement. We may not reach 100 million Filipinos before the population starts going down. If maternal mortality is not the problem and the population growth rate of the country is below replacement, what is the need for RH bill? But there are plenty of Filipinos in poverty and these are the ones who want children. We can either give jobs and livelihood or condoms. In the first alternative everybody wins; in the second we may be violating the consciences of the poor if we make it a condition to use condoms or sterilization as a condition for receiving alms from the government. I feel like wading into an emotion-filled morass where publicity helps the promoters of the RH bill. But I am still hopeful that that a few clarifications may help. Four terms need clarification: 1. Excommunication, 2. Start of life, 3. Abortion, 4. Contraception. 1. The easy one is excommunication. All it means is a declaration that a person is no longer a part of the Catholic community. It should not be a big deal for those who do not want to follow its rules to be declared as no longer a member of the Catholic community. Most Protestants do not want to be part of the Catholic community anyway. The Muslims do not consider themselves as part of that community. Excommunication is just a declaration that a person is no longer part of the Catholic community. This should be no problem for those who feel they cannot follow Catholic regulations. It is hardly used in modern times and only a legislative body of the Church can declare excommunication, not any spokesman or even a bishop. 2. When does life start for human beings? The present Catholic teaching is when the egg is fertilized. Eggs that are fertilized and are not implanted die. 3. Abortion is the killing of the implanted egg. Catholic teaching is quite unanimous on this. And our Constitution prohibits abortion. If you cannot accept this, then you are not a Catholic or you no longer want to be a member of the Catholic community. Many millions do not want to be Catholic. That is their privilege. The RH bill penalizes medical practitioners who refuse to help abortion. 4. Contraception is not abortion because there has been no implantation of the fertilized egg.
Contraception is the prevention of the human egg from being fertilized. This is usually done with the use of condoms, of chemicals to kill the sperms, by preventing ovulation with pills, or abstention, etc. However, some contraceptives like IUDs may be abortive in that they dislodge already implanted fertilized eggs. Contraception is, therefore, not abortion. But some abortion may be disguised as contraception. Catholic teaching considers abortion as murder. Catholic teaching does not make contraception as killing. In fact it promotes contraception in the form of total abstention, periodic abstention, and natural methods of contraception. Catholic teaching is against artificial means of contraception. Can this teaching change in the future? Possible but present discipline is that artificial contraception like the use of pills, condoms, etc., is morally wrong. How wrong?
Debatable on intrinsic arguments. Here is where conscience comes in. Although it is declared morally wrong or a sin, some moral theologians opine that artificial contraception is not seriously wrong in itself. Therefore some theologians say you can follow the dictates of your conscience, i.e., if you have more children than you can bring up as children of God, can your conscience allow the use of artificial contraceptives? You will certainly be disobeying the ruling of the hierarchical church but conscience is the ultimate decision maker. Disobeying might not be such a serious sin if other circumstances mitigate the fault. The Church is the guide for Catholics in moral matters. Non-Catholics should use their own conscience. Of what use is the RH bill? It certainly can help tar the image of the Catholic hierarchy.
