Tonight is the eve of what will hopefully be a vote on the second reading of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill in the House of Representatives.
In tonight’s Congress session the Honorable Representative from Cebu, Pablo Garcia, and his cohorts showed the country how Christ-like the anti-RH truly are. These are men who say they are fighting for God’s will, right? Surely the moral character of God must be reflected in their attempted amendments to the RH bill, right?
Representative Pablo Garcia tried to include an amendment into the RH bill to remove post-abortion care from the bill. His reasoning for this amendment is that including language that guarantees post abortion care for women who felt compelled to undergo an abortion would just encourage more women to undergo abortion. Our country totally does not need to take care of women who undergo an illegal operation, I mean, theres a reason its illegal right?
What a very Christ like moral argument there, Representative Garcia. After all when Jesus was faced with that adulterous woman who was to be stoned in the gospel of John, he was all like, “Yeah! Lets totally stone her!”
Oh wait. No. He didn’t.
Jesus forgave her and actually dared the pharisees, the clergy men, to hurt the woman they brought before him.
Women who suffer post abortion complications in the Philippines don’t just endure the effects of a most likely poorly done illegal abortion, they’re also stigmatized when they try to go to hospitals for care. These women who are already suffering are made to feel even worse, given substandard care because of a stigma that stems from religion.
The anti-RH go on and on about their morals derived from God. They declare that they know God’s will, that they are just doing what their God wants them to do.
According to their Bible, Jesus himself protected the life of a woman from the dictates of the clergy; from their desire to exact justice without thought of mercy. And yet, when these men who claim to follow God’s will have the chance to do what Jesus would do, they do the exact opposite.
Maybe its time to stop listening to the men of the cloth. Maybe its time the country acts as Jesus did when dealing with women who have illegal abortions: with compassion and mercy. Maybe instead of listening to our own pharisees, maybe its time to pass the RH bill.
Image: Christ and the woman taken in adultery, via the Wikimedia Commons
Errata: I had mistakenly written “third reading of the Reproductive Health Bill” when it is only the second reading, the mistake has since been corrected.
I'm reminded of the official Philippine attitude toward 45,000 illegitimate children fathered in the Philippines by American servicemen. The legal readout: The mothers were probably prostitutes, which is illegal, so the State has no obligation to care for these children.
Where is Transparency International's ranking on "Heartless". The Philippines would be number one.