Contraceptives: One-way Ticket to Hell?

After the birth of the controversial RH Bill, Catholic moralists nationwide were quick to express their belief that birth control is, well, a sin. According to the Bible, God wanted us to multiply, and to multiply the moralists think we should. Not only do they find contraceptives offensive, some of the (more prudish) moralists are also horrified to learn of the proposed plan to put sex education classes in school. It is safe to say that they are con RH Bill because of their religious beliefs. But then again, why don't other Catholics see contraceptives as a one-way ticket to hell?

            I was born to Catholic parents and was raised Catholic. I studied in esteemed Catholic institutions, where I learned to read ( . . . some parts of) the Bible and learned how to participate in Mass. As soon I was old enough and socially-conscious enough to know about contraceptives, I knew that some fellow Catholics believe that contraceptives are instruments of murder. Oddly, I never saw it like that. I deemed condoms and the pill and the diaphragm as inventive and effective ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies, especially to those who do not believe in abstinence or sex until marriage – which, you know, is pretty much 70 percent of the population.

            Most teenagers today are sexually active. This is where sex education and contraceptives come in handy. Imagine if teenagers, with their crazy raging hormones, were to experiment with sex without proper knowledge or birth control. Imagine how many young girls would fall victim to teenage pregnancies. Didn't Jose Rizal say that today's youth are tomorrow's leaders?  So what happens if tomorrow's leaders are knocked up and/or taking care of their spawns? What happens to the future of our country?

            Say a fourteen-year-old girl experiences something similar to lust. Her hormones are raging and she's feeling butterflies inside her tummy whenever the older, more experienced college boy she's crushing on so much as smiles at her. The college boy notices how the girl's behaving. He entertains ideas about hooking up with her. She knows nothing about sex, considering her parents are too conservative and too awkward to discuss the birds and the bees to her. College boy takes advantage of the naïve girl. She gets pregnant and is labeled a slut by others, when in truth she was merely uninformed. It's a picture that probably happens everyday in our country.

            Sex education is designed to inform the youth of the technicalities and consequences of sex – what should happen if they decide to seal the deal, so to speak. Learning about the various sexually transmitted diseases contraceptives such as condoms avert, youths would be taught to approach sex more cautiously and to be responsible enough to use birth control.

            The aim of the RH Bill is to lessen the birth rate in the Philippines. Apparently, our country is the twelfth most overpopulated nation in the globe. Family planning is one of the most simplest ways to curb the ever-growing problem regarding overpopulation. Some moralists would argue that God wants us to multiply. But seeing as the earth's natural resources are rapidly diminishing as the birth rates shoot up, I do not think God wants us to live in a world where food is scarce. Earth is fast losing the capability to feed its inhabitants. At this rate, years from now – if babies continue to keep popping out of their mothers' wombs at an alarming pace – the number of humans would become much higher than the number of food. This could cause people to fight and scavenge for goods. Instead of living in an ideal Eden, we'd be living in a dystopian world where war and murder are everyday occurrences. Eventually, our earth's resources would disappear entirely, leaving mankind starving to death – literally.

            I think, if there really is a God out there, He would rather have us use birth control than to be denied basic necessities such as food. I think that He wouldn't want us to starve, all in the name of “multiplying.”

            There is nothing wrong with being educated about the perils and aftermaths of sex. And there certainly is nothing wrong with having a choice. If I wanted to use birth control, then I am damn well going to use birth control. It is my body and it is my choice and it is my life.

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RH Bill Viewed From Another Angle

“But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (1 Corinthians 7:4-6, New International Version)

Whether or not the Reproductive Health Bill will be passed into law, and even if no such bill is proposed, we should be guided by this Bible admonition. The rejection by the Catholic Church of the RH Bill leaves no other alternatives to family planning except the use of the so-called “natural” or “rhythm method” which, in fact, is unnatural because it is done by abstaining from sexual intercourse during the woman’s fertile periods. This goes against the normal sexual urge, which is at peak during fertile periods and such time of abstinence, and is therefore ineffective as a means of birth control. When abstinence is forced, it further leads to infidelity and promiscuity of either spouse, since the deprivation, for lack of self-control, “burns,” seeking release of the burning passion in the bosom of a third party, where adultery begins. God knows the weakness of the flesh, that is why Paul the Apostle advised every husband and wife, thus: “Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (Ibid.) The “natural” or “rhythm method” of birth control fostered by those against the RH Bill goes against this principle written in the Holy Scriptures.

To contend that RH Bill is part of U.S. manipulation of our legal system to push the U.S. agenda of controlling Philippine population thereby preventing the dwindling of Philippine natural resources to provide Americans a steady supply of raw materials and resources for their consumption is to insist that Filipinos are mindless, unthinking, weak, without self-will and sovereignty, and are without control of its own destiny as a people. If it is true that RH Bill is just a means to serve American objectives, and is against the doctrine of the Vatican, why do anti-RH Bill camps also agree that family planning is a must, and natural methods are acceptable, and yet will not agree that controlling the population is necessary? How can family planning be achieved without curbing the population growth? If we are going to let population explosion go unchecked and unmanaged, how can the government provide its basic services to an unlimited number of citizens in a country with limited resources?

The RH Bill is not against life. It is pro-life. If there are loopholes in it, can’t we make amendments to improve it to our own benefit, without fostering the vested interests of foreign entities? Of course we can. Those mathematicians of by-gone centuries who tried to square the circle using only compass and straightedge were fooled by illusions and false hopes. Now we know that squaring the circle is an impossible construction to make. Today, a different kind of illusion, seeming to offer solution to an alarming and urgent national problem, is deceiving the eyes of many. A different kind of false hope-- that we can control the population by mere natural methods without the intervention of government programs and initiatives—is being proliferated by those taking their stand against this proposed RH law.

When God instructed the first couple on earth, Adam and Eve, to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, He was quick in adding to His instruction that mankind “…subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). How can mankind obey this commandment--to subdue or bring the earth under control--if we cannot even bring the population under control? And how can we control the population if we rely on ineffective means?

Let us analyze the problem carefully, let us be objective in looking for the solution, and if we find that RH Bill is anti-Filipinos, let’s modify it. But it addresses a pressing need of the nation.

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Legislating Our Sex Lives

The poor are always at a disadvantage all the time, even in matters of planning their own families!  Middle-class families and the rich can easily access family planning methods, but the poor can't. They just don't have the money to pay to their doctors or to buy those contraceptives.  And they should be the people our health workers should reach - the ones who have the most at stake on this.  I know the government should not legislate our sex lives, but the sight of so much poor struggling, just because they have 5, 6 7, or more children, should be enough for the government to step in and educate them in family planning methods - whether those are sanctioned by the Church or not.  The Church can do their own sex education and the state can do its share - and the couple should be left alone to decide for themselves. We are a democratic country after all!

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