The Reproductive Health Bill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Reproductive Health Bill - Essay Example The bill has been unanimously approved by the House Committee on Population and Family Relations last January 31, 2011. It is now awaiting approval on third reading in Congress after which it will be submitted to the Senate for approval and eventually submitted to the Office of the President for signature (Montenegro, par.2). This process however is not an easy route. Various contending factions have their own vocal supporters from prominent groups and personalities in the fields of the academe, government, civil society and the religious. It is worth noting that the powerful Catholic Church, representing Catholics who comprise around 80 percent of the Philippine population (Santos, par. 4), is in the forefront of the campaign against the bill. The RH Bill seeks to guarantee universal access to family planning methods. The bill also aims to provide universal access to information on contraception and maternal care, and promote age-appropriate sexual education to youths in elementary and high schools (Palmer, par. 5). The bill seeks to protect the health and lives of mothers who die from unnecessary causes in childbirth, prevent unintentional pregnancies and thereby prevent abortions. For the bill’s proponents, one of the primary reasons why they wrote the bill is the interconnection between rapid population growth and poverty, with much of the growth in population occurring among the poor. In a 2004 study, the Asian Development Bank cited the country’s large population as one of the core drivers of the country’s poverty (Palmer, par. 2). Ernesto Pernia, an economics professor points out that with fewer children and wider birth intervals the poor will be able to devote more of their very limited resources to each child’s education and health which in turn will increase their chances of climbing out of poverty (Palmer, par. 7). It is worth mentioning that not all religious groups are against the RH Bill. The Philippine Council of Evang elical Churches supports the RH Bill because it is pro-life, pro-development and pro-poor. Addressing the concerns of the Catholic Church that the bill promotes a â€Å"culture of death† by allowing artificial contraceptive methods, its leader Bishop Efraim Tendero had this to say: "Life begins at fertilization. Therefore if there is no fertilization, there is no life yet. The use of artificial contraception is not taking away life because life has not yet started." (Santos, par.5 & 7). Another influential religious group, the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), believes that the RH bill will help decrease many of society’s worsening ills which could be attributed to the increase in population. The group’s stand is with the RH bill, married couples can avoid unwanted pregnancies (Santos, par. 7-8). Another group, the Interfaith Partnership for the Promotion of Responsible Parenthood considers the RH bill as necessary to prevent the deaths of mothers and babies (Santos, par. 11). Leading the groups against the RH Bill is the Catholic Church. The Church supports Natural Family Planning, which includes abstinence and fertility beads among women. But it strongly prohibits the use of artificial means, such as birth control pills and condoms because it prevents human life (Palmer, par. 11-12). The Church argues that by making contraceptives universally accessible and promoting sex education in schools, it will promote promiscuity (Palmer, par. 13). But proponents argue that that is exactly why the proposed sex education of the youth includes values formation. The Church believes there is no relation between population size and poverty. They argue that instead of spending P6 billion in implementing the bill, it should instead be used

AN INTERVIEW WITH A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER Essay

AN INTERVIEW WITH A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER - Essay Example The main reason why I loved the idea of having this interview with Officer McGinnis while at work was because this was a rare opportunity for me to get a first hand information and experience how it feels to be a Police Officer on patrol. It was also pretty much to have a feel of being above the law without worrying that I might get pulled over for speeding since I was with an officer. One thing that came to my attention during that ride was that other drivers, especially on I-435W, drove more courteously. Nobody seemed to have over sped since they all drove within the speed limit and behind McGinnis’ cruiser. Inside the car I also noticed a lot of equipment which were used in police work and this really surprised me. Back home policemen had only a radio to communicate and a gun to protect them. Officer McGinnis explained to me that different police departments had their own jurisdictions, capabilities and respective responsibilities to maintain law and order that require state-of the-arts technology. One question I raised during the interview was on what different kinds of challenges did he experience while on- and off- duty. According to Officer McGinnis, one of his greatest challenges he faces as a police officer starts daily with the half hour briefings on legal issues which he is expected to know. Other challenges he faced include the continuous rapid change in technology (hi-tech gadgets) which he has to grasp and learn fast. They are constantly trained and retrained to update them on everything including new weapons used by criminals. They have been equipped with new laptops in the squad cars that were developed by the military, computer aided dispatch and laser pads for fingerprinting which they must learn how to use. He also explained that they have to be informed or updated all the time to prepare them for any crucial situation they might encounter while on duty. He was careful to point out that police work was not all car chases, lights and