Reproductive Health is about Ensuring Quality Health Services for Girls and Women, asserts GWP

“GWP agrees with both the statements from the Palace and the Pulpit that the growing population had no relation to poverty. We however, believe that the Palace will go in the wrong direction via this “responsible parenthood bill” if it focuses only on the child-bearing demographic targets and does not consider reproductive health needs of women of all ages,” declared Rep. Emmi De Jesus of the Gabriela Women’s Party.

 This, as Malacañang declared its intent to submit to Congress a “responsible parenthood” bill as part of the priority bills it wishes Congress to act urgently on.

“GWP has asserted that a comprehensive framework to reproductive health must be used, in line with rights-based principles. This means that the government has an obligation to develop services and programs for reproductive health using the life cycle approach, and also consider the needs of the differently-abled. It also means that mental health needs of girls and women are also attended to, especially since we know that post-partum depression, is not a “make-believe” problem but is real, where girls and women undergoing hormonal changes are concerned,” added Rep. De Jesus.

“House Bill 3387, which is the GWP version of the RH bill, takes into account access to health services by girls and women, especially from marginalized sectors. It proposes the provision of pro bono reproductive health services by health service professionals for indigent girls and women. It also proposes that employers accommodate a half-day leave for pregnant women for each month that they are pregnant, to facilitate their monthly check ups, which spells a great deal in the proper management of their pre-natal care. Clearly, these connote a broader range of health issues that girls and women are confronted with, where their reproductive system is concerned,” further explained Rep. De Jesus.

“We call on all sectors of society to uphold human rights and settle down to an objective reckoning of the reproductive health bills. We need to support a comprehensive reproductive health bill that will assert that reproductive health is an obligation of the government, no matter how much the Church attempts to influence how it should run its affairs,” Rep. De Jesus ended.###