by: Moira G Gallaga©
Showing posts with label RH Bill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RH Bill. Show all posts
02/11/2011
Reproductive Health (RH) Bill
RH Bill
Why are our mothers confused and wailing
salted tears on their cheeks, brows furrowed waiting
for a method to the madness to come forward
explain this to me.
Say it isn't my fault.
Why are our children hungry and jaded
bare footed, unwanted or neglected
waiting for a method to their eradicate their hunger
explain it to them.
Tell them it's not their fault.
Why are our fathers tired and cautious
incapable of juggling fire any longer, now waiting
for the Right Thing to do to leap into their hands
explain to their families.
Tell them it's all your fault.
Why is our government standing idly by
unable to say exactly why they are waiting
for a solution to come, when there already is one
explanations are excuses
Tell us there is a way.
Tell us you have the means.
There will be support, education, assistance
by every turn of the road
every stepping stone will
raise us higher
erase the tears
feed the hunger
extinguish the fires
light our hearths with a new coal.
Explain nothing.
Tell us there is hope.
14/09/2011
House Bill Number 4244 (Reproductive Health Bill)
House Bill no. 4244
needs to be passed.
‘Bloated population’ control?
Well being, health and fertile growth
enough space for each potential
to bloom and grow.
It’s like a sustainable field you see
a garden where every person
wanted or not wanted
plays a role but woe
so many seeds have sprouted
filling all the space, smothering some
denying air to breath and rightful spot in the sun.
This field, this garden,
needs more than one gardener
to tend the weeds of poverty and ignorance.
Responsibility?
Not the state alone
but all of us
to use our skills and willingness
for better wellness of every Life.
Skilled gardeners:
Let’s grow from informed choice
within the fence of family planning services
let’s decrease the uprooting
of unwanted seedlings through abortion
remove the pests of STD’s
educate our apprentices
our future gardeners
to create healthy stalks of Life.
Yes, it is the woman’s body
that bears the choice,
but let’s make sure
that we hear her voice.
2011 Moira G. Gallaga©
28/08/2011
Overpopulation: Time to Step on the Brakes (The Need for a Reproductive Health Bill)
Filipinos who lead mindful lives make choices every day that embrace the power of an individual to change the world. To conserve the earth’s resources, they choose to recycle. To reduce pollutants, they choose to limit the number of miles they drive. To ensure that the smallest possible corporate footprint is left on the planet, they choose to buy from companies that are environmentally responsible. Indeed, Filipinos make all kinds of choices that affect the planet, but the one choice that matters most, the choice that has the greatest impact in our developing country, is the choice to reproduce.
Like all animals, humans want to be fruitful and multiply. That’s nature. Every living creature is designed to reproduce. Humans, though, have gotten particularly good at it. Too good, some would argue. Of course, there was a time when it made sense to make more people. There was plenty of everything. The world was brimming with resources to be exploited. Frontiers were there to be tamed. People considered it their divine right to exercise dominion over all the creatures of the earth. The world was humanity’s oyster and there were plenty of pearls for everyone.
Not anymore. Nowadays, the world seems to be running out of just about everything. In order to live a more and more comfortable lifestyle, people, particularly those living in developed nations, have become consumers on such a large scale that resources that once seemed inexhaustible are now disappearing. Clean water, fossil fuels, food, metals and minerals used in manufacturing, as well as countless other vital resources, are no longer infinitely abundant. And to make matters worse, alongside shrinking animal populations, there are more and more people competing for dwindling resources.
Take my country’s example, we are a country rich in natural resources but unable to attain sustainable and equitable economic growth. Income disparity and poverty are major issues, the rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer and the middle class is either disappearing or end up finding work overseas to give their families a better quality of life. A tenth of our population are based overseas. Our population increases annually to an equivalent size of the population of Singapore. Despite our abundance in natural resources, I fear that even if we get our act together, it is no longer enough to effectively address existing socio-economic problems.
The solution seems simple: use less and make fewer babies. Unfortunately, the problems of overconsumption and overpopulation don’t easily lend themselves to simple solutions. The Reproductive Health Bill needs to be passed. This isn't simply about population control, at its core it is about women's rights and our reproductive health and well-being. This Bill also tackles economic issues; poverty and even the spread of STDs. People don’t want to be any less comfortable than they are accustomed to being. And they certainly don’t want to be told they shouldn’t reproduce the way nature has hard-wired them to do. Fortunately, humans are different from the other animals in one important way. Despite seemingly overwhelming evidence to the contrary, people are thinking creatures. They have brains that are capable of processing information in a way that allows them to modify even their most instinctive behaviours. They are adaptable. Yes, human beings can be taught - most of them, anyway.
Make no mistake, the challenge of getting people to consume less is daunting, but getting people to change their reproductive behaviour is even more difficult. There is no more basic instinct than the desire to reproduce, whether by intention or not. However, civilization is built upon it. Political and religious institutions are devoted to encouraging population growth. The family unit, the fundamental reproductive structure, was the bedrock upon which stable societies are built. Having children is considered a measure of success in life. Having more children is equated with being more successful. And, while it’s true that there was a time when that made sense, when a large family was a hedge against higher mortality rates and a way to contribute to the labor pool both on the farm and in the cities, those days are gone in all but the least developed parts of the world. Now, thanks to technology, people live longer and fewer of them are required to produce more, resulting in what would seem to be two contradictory phenomena, an aging population and high unemployment.
If ever there were a time for those in power to stand up and lead, this would seem to be it. Unfortunately, politicians and religious leaders don’t lead when it comes to reproductive behaviour.
Filipinos must, through deeds and words, take the lead. People who choose to limit the number of children they have to two or fewer must become the rule rather than the exception and they must not be afraid to speak up about why they choose to do so.
David Attenborough had it right when, in one of his speeches at the Royal Society of Arts in London, he referred to the lack of public debate about overpopulation as a central environmental issue, “I meet no one who privately disagrees that population growth is a problem. No one - except flat-earthers - can deny that the planet is finite, so why does hardly anyone say so publicly?”
One simple answer to Sir Attenborough’s query is that people, especially politicians, lack the courage to speak out when they know that they will be roundly criticized by those who cling to old ways of thinking. Nowhere is this more true than in the Philippines, where some of those opposed to limiting population growth are perfectly willing to make personal attacks part of their strategy.
Aware that ripples become waves in a world that has become one big neighbourhood, Filipinos leading mindful lives can choose to be good neighbours. They can choose to set an example and, in doing so, can be seen as credible when they explain their choices in terms of their worldview. Then, when enough people make decisions based on what is best for the whole world they must speak up and be heard about the sound reasoning behind their choices, so those in power will see which way the wind is blowing and will themselves finally begin to address the problem of overpopulation. It is time to start acting responsibly and be more mindful of the world around us. Overpopulation, it is time to step on the brakes.
Like all animals, humans want to be fruitful and multiply. That’s nature. Every living creature is designed to reproduce. Humans, though, have gotten particularly good at it. Too good, some would argue. Of course, there was a time when it made sense to make more people. There was plenty of everything. The world was brimming with resources to be exploited. Frontiers were there to be tamed. People considered it their divine right to exercise dominion over all the creatures of the earth. The world was humanity’s oyster and there were plenty of pearls for everyone.
Not anymore. Nowadays, the world seems to be running out of just about everything. In order to live a more and more comfortable lifestyle, people, particularly those living in developed nations, have become consumers on such a large scale that resources that once seemed inexhaustible are now disappearing. Clean water, fossil fuels, food, metals and minerals used in manufacturing, as well as countless other vital resources, are no longer infinitely abundant. And to make matters worse, alongside shrinking animal populations, there are more and more people competing for dwindling resources.
Take my country’s example, we are a country rich in natural resources but unable to attain sustainable and equitable economic growth. Income disparity and poverty are major issues, the rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer and the middle class is either disappearing or end up finding work overseas to give their families a better quality of life. A tenth of our population are based overseas. Our population increases annually to an equivalent size of the population of Singapore. Despite our abundance in natural resources, I fear that even if we get our act together, it is no longer enough to effectively address existing socio-economic problems.
The solution seems simple: use less and make fewer babies. Unfortunately, the problems of overconsumption and overpopulation don’t easily lend themselves to simple solutions. The Reproductive Health Bill needs to be passed. This isn't simply about population control, at its core it is about women's rights and our reproductive health and well-being. This Bill also tackles economic issues; poverty and even the spread of STDs. People don’t want to be any less comfortable than they are accustomed to being. And they certainly don’t want to be told they shouldn’t reproduce the way nature has hard-wired them to do. Fortunately, humans are different from the other animals in one important way. Despite seemingly overwhelming evidence to the contrary, people are thinking creatures. They have brains that are capable of processing information in a way that allows them to modify even their most instinctive behaviours. They are adaptable. Yes, human beings can be taught - most of them, anyway.
Make no mistake, the challenge of getting people to consume less is daunting, but getting people to change their reproductive behaviour is even more difficult. There is no more basic instinct than the desire to reproduce, whether by intention or not. However, civilization is built upon it. Political and religious institutions are devoted to encouraging population growth. The family unit, the fundamental reproductive structure, was the bedrock upon which stable societies are built. Having children is considered a measure of success in life. Having more children is equated with being more successful. And, while it’s true that there was a time when that made sense, when a large family was a hedge against higher mortality rates and a way to contribute to the labor pool both on the farm and in the cities, those days are gone in all but the least developed parts of the world. Now, thanks to technology, people live longer and fewer of them are required to produce more, resulting in what would seem to be two contradictory phenomena, an aging population and high unemployment.
If ever there were a time for those in power to stand up and lead, this would seem to be it. Unfortunately, politicians and religious leaders don’t lead when it comes to reproductive behaviour.
Filipinos must, through deeds and words, take the lead. People who choose to limit the number of children they have to two or fewer must become the rule rather than the exception and they must not be afraid to speak up about why they choose to do so.
David Attenborough had it right when, in one of his speeches at the Royal Society of Arts in London, he referred to the lack of public debate about overpopulation as a central environmental issue, “I meet no one who privately disagrees that population growth is a problem. No one - except flat-earthers - can deny that the planet is finite, so why does hardly anyone say so publicly?”
One simple answer to Sir Attenborough’s query is that people, especially politicians, lack the courage to speak out when they know that they will be roundly criticized by those who cling to old ways of thinking. Nowhere is this more true than in the Philippines, where some of those opposed to limiting population growth are perfectly willing to make personal attacks part of their strategy.
Aware that ripples become waves in a world that has become one big neighbourhood, Filipinos leading mindful lives can choose to be good neighbours. They can choose to set an example and, in doing so, can be seen as credible when they explain their choices in terms of their worldview. Then, when enough people make decisions based on what is best for the whole world they must speak up and be heard about the sound reasoning behind their choices, so those in power will see which way the wind is blowing and will themselves finally begin to address the problem of overpopulation. It is time to start acting responsibly and be more mindful of the world around us. Overpopulation, it is time to step on the brakes.
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