When Artificial Contraception is Okayed in the Philippines . . .

Condom.

This is enough to spark a series of protests and debates. It is a hot and controversial issue in the religious and political spheres of our time.  If and when the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill becomes a law, will our society be better off? Is the government sure in achieving the goals embodied in the controversial bill such as the slowing of population growth and thereby poverty will be alleviated? When condoms, pills and IUDs are available to the poor, there is no reason for the rich not to have access with them too. The intent of the government is to distribute artificial contraception paraphernalia to “poor and married couples.”

Majority of 100 million Filipinos are poor. Let us just say, 60 million of them. So the government must have a fund to procure contraceptives. We must not forget that the government rationale in controlling the population growth is to alleviate poverty. If economists are believed, they say that the government has not enough resources to be able to take care the huge population to live a decent life.

The government should know that even without promoting artificial contraception, our population slowly thins out because of starvation, scarcity of jobs, government neglect; and sky-rocketing medical and commodity expenses that contribute to the death of some of  the population in the countryside especially among the urban poor.

Now, here are the issues I want to be pondered upon:

If a 20-year old unmarried lady goes to a public health center and asks for condoms and pills, does the counter ask if she is married or not? If she is indeed married, is she required to present her marriage certificate before she can bring home what she needs? If she is single, by law, she is not entitled to such benefits. How believable that a single or even the minors cannot get condoms fraudulently from somewhere?  Can any one stop a single woman, refused to have a condom, not to have sex and probably get pregnant as a result?

If a married poor gentleman in his mid to late 60s asks for condoms, is he required to prove that he is poor by bringing supporting papers like tax papers? What if he is jobless? Worse, he might not be given condoms because of  already “loose knees”. But what further if his wife is in her 30s?

For married couples using contraceptives, is there any guarantee that their children, adult or minor, will not use some of the condoms recklessly left on the desk? If their children know that their parents are using contraceptives, who can stop the kids not to follow the example of their parents whether they are married or not?

Condoms are available in bigger drug stores; I know that. Who can stop anyone to buy them --- ladies or gentlemen; married or single; adult or minor? If millions use condom; prostitution will flourish, many families will be broken and our already decaying morality will crumble further and faster. At this point in time, we perceive the prophecies of Paul VI as already plaguing our society.  Make no mistake that the situation gets worse when the government plan is pushed through.

Well, there is nothing wrong about sex. The ever-loving God gifted it to us  to perpetuate His creation bearing His image but we must remember that every sexual act is twinned with sets of responsibility. That makes us different from lower forms of animals. As rational being, it is wise to hear the counsel of the learned for it is not true that what one believes as right is always correct otherwise, there would no longer be mistakes if we strictly depend on our uninformed mind. -30-