Look ahead - My stand on the RH bill

                I found out about the RH bill during my senior year in high school. It was all the grown-ups around me were talking about; my parents talked about it during dinners at my grandparents’ house, my teachers were voicing out there opinions on the issue during classes while I still had no idea what the RH bill’s contents were. Out of curiosity, I decided to look up what all the fuss was about. I read online about the RH bill’s contents and found nothing wrong with what it contains. Of course, I found the bill too idealistic and I had my doubts about how the government is ever going to make it work, if in case the bill was passed.

I have heard a lot of opinions about the RH bill from people who were close to me. My parents’ opinion on the bill was that our country needed it but the government has bigger things to worry about. They believed that the RH bill would have to wait; the government had to address other issues bigger than the controversial bill. On the other hand my teachers from my all-girls catholic high school are against the bill. My teachers and our parish priest all taught us that life starts at conception, using condoms and/or other contraceptives stops life; it is, according to them, murder of an unborn baby. This opinion sort of scared me. I mean, nobody wants to be labelled a murderer especially by religious groups in which they belong in.

Stop life. Two ordinary words when put together come up with a really bad sentence. No one in their right mind would dare utter something as hateful as this. The people who opposed the bill saw this as the main goal of the RH bill while the ones who are for it think otherwise; they believe that it is not stopping life but giving people a chance to live, a chance to survive, and a chance to move forward.

My opinion on the bill was mostly based on what I know of it, what people think of it, and whoever influences me. As a Catholic, people probably think I’d be against the bill since the church has been really really active in showing how against they are to the bill but, in all honesty, I am not against the bill. If I had to choose and if my choice would actually matter to this situation, I’d say I’m pro the RH bill. The bill may be too idealistic and sometimes unreal but I think it’ll do our country some good. Our country needs that right now.

I’ve learned to spot the difference between those who are pro the bill and those who are against it. Usually, those who are against the bill are traditional, religious, and old while those who are for it seem to be those who are open-minded and not-so-religious. That’s just my opinion, of course.

Okay, back on topic.  I remember that one time last year during my Christian Living class, our teacher told us a little insight on the RH bill. She told us that people who were for the bill are promoting promiscuity in a country that is as conservative and religious as the Philippines. I think our country probably can’t handle something as controversial as this bill since everything the bill stands for is being taken differently by those who oppose it. We first have to learn how to debate and oppose each other without bringing anybody down. That’s when the fight will truly be fair. The church and the state should know that.

I find the church’s belief regarding the RH bill to be biased and misjudged. I came to this conclusion while listening to a priest rant about the bill on and on and on during the homily a few months ago. I kept thinking to myself how biased the church was about their beliefs. To the church, their belief was right and everyone else’s belief is not. 

The way I think is influenced by the people around me. My stand on the bill wasn’t because it was somebody else’s stand; their points of view influenced me in a way that their way of thinking made me question and reflect about the bill. I thought about how the church saw the bill as something evil and how the government promotes it as the only good thing they can do for our country right now. I, on the other hand, believe that maybe in some ways both of them are right.  Maybe the RH bill could do both good and bad for the Philippines. It all just depends on a person’s interpretation of what good and bad is.

                My decision to be pro-RH isn’t because I thought the government is right and the church is wrong. My opinion on the matter was based purely on what I believe would make our country progress. I guess, you could probably say I’m a little bit biased but that’s your opinion and this is mine. I just hope they could get this over with and make new laws that people wouldn’t be afraid to stand up for; new laws where we, the people, will benefit from immediately. I mean, it’s great that people are looking to the future and seeing all the possibilities this bill could help make. I just hope that those who oppose the bill would see that; see the good things it could give us and not just concentrate on their negative ideas of what the future will be because of the bill. Okay, that’s probably it. You could interpret this blog as something that promotes the bill or some kind of rant against its opposers but that’s far from it. I just wanted to voice out my opinion and acknowledge the people who influence me with regard to my stand on the bill.

                                                                                                                                      - behindthescenes