NURSES' GROUP OPPOSES THE RH BILL

Nurses’ group vows to oppose RH bill

By Rebelander S. Basilan  |  Saturday, October 29, 2011

THE Catholic Nurses Guild of the Philippines (CNGP) vowed yesterday that it will “strongly oppose” the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

“The bill is not pro-life,” said CNGP Cebu Chapter president Dr. Carmelita Villanobos in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu.  

“As nurses, we take care of life, so we don’t support the bill,” she said.

The CNGP held a seminar, dubbed “Nurses’ Spiritual Upliftment: A Call of The Time,” at the Perpetual Succour Hospital in Cebu City yesterday.

Attended by nursing professors and students, the seminar discussed concepts related to “the spiritual care of clients.”

CNGP official Ma. Luisa Uayan said nurses “are advocates of life.”

“We have to stand strong against practices that lead to the destruction of human life,” she said.

Citing an encyclical by Pope John Paul II, Uayan said these practices include abortion, euthanasia and research on human embryonic stem cells.

She stressed that life begins at conception, and said “there exists no right to abortion under international law.”

“The State should guarantee the right to life. Ang batas dapat para sa buhay, hindi para bawasan ang buhay (The law should promote life, not destroy life),” she said.

Citing studies conducted abroad, Uayan said artificial contraceptives have negative health implications.

There is no evidence that the use of condoms has led to fewer cases of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Aids), she pointed out.

“Condoms do not work,” she said.

Methods

The RH bill recognizes the right of couples to choose between natural and artificial methods of birth control.

It mandates the government to “promote, without bias, all effective natural and modern methods of family planning that are medically safe and legal.”

It also wants the government to “ensure that all women needing care for post-abortion complications shall be treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and compassionate manner.”

But Uayan said that “in the long run, the bill will not uplift the poor.”

She added the increase or decrease of population growth does not by itself spell development or underdevelopment.

Uayan said the solution to poverty is the provision not of artificial contraceptives but of education, health care and jobs.

Supporters of the RH bill argue that its passage will curb maternal deaths through the provision of health services, and address unwanted pregnancies through age-appropriate sex education in school.

Villanobos said the CNGP Cebu chapter will hold seminars in schools and hospitals to make the public aware of the implications of the bill.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 29, 2011.