Typhoon RH

Every year, the august halls of the Batasang Pambansa [National Legislature] are marked by prolonged turbulence similar to a supertyphoon, lasting for weeks. There are moments of relative calm, but more often it is a raging cacophony, acrimonious and threatening.

I'm referring to the annual debates over a bill to promote reproductive health in the Philippines, to include family planning. Every year, a group of bold legislators led by Albay province's Rep. Edcel Lagman proposes the bill and each year it fails to pass because of fierce lobbying from conservative Catholics.

The full name of the bill is An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development, and as Congress prepares to resume sessions on July 28, the conservatives have moved into their battle positions. Expect more fireworks this year, considering that July 25 marks the 40th anniversary of the papal encyclical "Humanae Vitae," which actually supports family planning but bans "artificial" contraception.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, in their latest meeting, had the bill way up on the agenda, overtaking the current economic crisis. At least two bishops have threatened to withhold Communion from the "anti-life politicians," which is tantamount to excommunication.

The furor is really over "RH," which conservatives claim is just a code word for abortion. They work on what is called a slippery slope theory, the idea that allowing something today could lead to big problems in the future. An example would be a young person starting with smoking now, and then ending up with marijuana and illegal drugs. In the case of the "RH" debate, conservatives have even opposed family planning, which they claim cultivates an "anti-life" mentality that will eventually lead to an acceptance, even legalization, of abortion. Some conservatives even go further, saying that there is a "DEATH" agenda behind RH, which spells out divorce, euthanasia, abortion, total population control and homosexuality.

RH "typhoons" are raging in different fronts. Besides the national legislature, RH bills have been proposed by several local governments, and several have passed, starting with pioneers like Aurora province and, most recently, Quezon City. That last bill was a particularly tumultuous, with both pro and anti camps aware that Quezon City is the country's largest city and a trend-setter.

In all the battles, the anti-RH activists have called the legislators "abortionists" because that "A" word works up people's emotions. Sadly, this focus on abortion—one that's picked up as well by the mass media because it helps sell newspapers—obscures the other important RH issues.

Typhoon RH in the US

Lagman and his RH team may need to talk more about what RH represents, using very concrete examples. I thought I'd start by giving examples from the ongoing US presidential race, where RH is among the most contentious of issues. The term itself is rarely used, but many of the debates actually relate to RH. While abortion is the hottest issue, there are other RH issues that have cropped up in the campaign. Last week, both candidates got into trouble with these issues.

For Republican candidate John McCain, it was about pills. Earlier, Carla Fiorna, one of his campaign managers, had observed: "I've been hearing a lot about from women: There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won't cover birth control medication. Those women would like a choice." Later, at a press conference, McCain was asked about the statement, but even before the reporter could finish her question, McCain said he did not want to discuss that issue. The reporter persisted, and revealed that McCain had in fact voted against a law that would have allowed health insurance coverage for contraceptives. She asked if that was still his position.

It was almost agonizing watching McCain groping for words and stuttering, first claiming he couldn't recall how he had voted in the past, and finally admitting, "I don't know enough about it to give you an informed answer," and then promising to get back to the reporter on that issue. His aides did get back to the press with this strange answer: "The senator supports competition in the health care industry."

We see similar examples played out in many parts of the world. In Japan, women's groups battled for almost 30 years to get birth control pills approved. Their victory came shortly after Viagra was introduced. If I remember right, it took the Japanese government six months to approve the drug, and the women's groups rightly complained that if men could get their little blue pill, then they should also get their birth control pills. "Gender" and "choice" are terms you will hear often in relation to RH, and those words also alarm conservatives as much as "RH" itself.

Barack Obama also found himself in trouble over a gender/RH issue when, in a Father's Day speech, he appealed to African-American men to recognize their responsibilities "do not end with conception." Too many fathers, he said, were behaving like "boys, rather than men" and many were "MIAs" (missing in action). The remarks drew criticism from within the African-American community, with one of their leaders, Jesse Jackson, caught whispering (he thought the microphone was off) that Obama was "talking down" to people and that his "nuts" should be cut off, i.e., he should be castrated.

I was surprised with Jackson's remarks because many years ago, he too had appealed as well for more male responsibility. I don't remember his exact words but more or less it was something like this: "It takes a boy to father, but it takes a man to parent."

Fathering and parenting are gender issues, and the gender issues are at the very heart of RH. Obama's remarks also stimulated discussions about why there are so many absconding fathers, and this was where issues of unemployment and poverty emerged.

The problem of absconding fathers in the Philippines is serious as well, demanding solutions that go beyond family planning. Considering the high dropout rates, something that's going to worsen with the crisis, we need to get to both young males and females with early sexuality education, which includes responsibilities around parenting. I would use Jesse Jackson's remark from many years ago.

I can envision sexuality education discussions in a college class going further, to talk about the responsibilities of both faith-based institutions (religious groups) and the state in helping to create an environment where men and women share responsibilities for parenting, whether by providing family planning services, or more stable jobs.

That's what RH is all about. Watching the American candidates handle Viagra and fathering, I thought too about how RH is all about fairness, between women and men, between faith-based institutions (churches) and the state, between the state and its citizens.

By Michael Tan, Pinoy Kasi, Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 16, 2008