Sean+Agustin+on+RH+Bill

As stated in the Section 2 of RH Bill, the RH Bill is intended to promote responsible parenthood, informed choice, birth spacing and respect for life. Moreover, it upholds the right of the people particularly of women and promotes the improved access to medically - safe, legal and affordable health care services, methods, devices, supplies and the like without compromising quality.

Personally, I see the RH Bill as a means for the Filipino people to be well educated and equipping the people with the power to choose to be protected from AIDS or STD and give their children a better quality of life. I also see it as a means of empowering the couples to practice family planning. Also, the RH Bill will improve the health care services offered to the Filipinos and also addresses the issues on gender inequality.

I **agree to providing access to family planning and promoting capacity building of barangay health workers.** I liked that the government also included the **promotion of mobile health care services** because it may be helpful in solving the problems with regards to patients being in remote areas or being remotely located from their doctors, midwives or health centers from which they avail of health services. **I also agree and believe that it is only right to have provisions for health services for senior citizens, differently-abled persons, women and children.** In addition, I also believe that **it is only right to implement a 1:150 ratio of midwife-deliveries and the establishment of hospitals in each province** since it will improve the maternal health and child care in the Philippines. As the municipalities have no way of tracking or monitoring the deaths or patient count in respective centers, I think that by having the **Maternal Death Review** will be a helpful tool in helping the government plot programs or preventive measures, which in the long run, lower the mortality rates.

More than anything, **I am in favor of the "educational" aspects of the RH Bills** because the decisions on how many children to bear, when to have sex or the like depends on the person alone, **the government can only do as much as guide the people and educate them about the benefits of family planning, safe sex, and the like.** I think that the people are entitled to the right education about health, family welfare and even family planning because without education, family planning or health in general may be just based on heresays, myths, impractical traditional beliefs, pure sexual impulses or the like. I am in favor of educating people about the proper use of contraceptives and the like __**but I am not in favor of allowing people, regarless of age or sex to be able to access/buy contraceptives and condoms in pharmacies, hospitals, or even in sari sari stores.**__ The people who are for the RH Bill says that by making condoms and contraceptives available in every outlet, you give people the "freedom of choice". But the thing is, although you allow the people including the teenagers to have control and right over their bodies, you increase the risk of them, actually trying out pre-marital/teenage sex because they would think that since they have "protection", no unwanted pregnancies may happen. I **think that the government should still impose age limits on who can buy condoms and contraceptives and restrict access to those who are not of legal age.** Also, __**I am not in favor of allowing abused minors to be provided reproductive health care services even without parental consent.**__ I believe that as long as the children are not of legal age, the parents must still have the parental authority over their children.

The RH Bill is not just about the contraceptives and the misconception that couples are "prevented" from bearing children. The RH Bill is about education and making sure that Filipinos obtained more informed choices. Although the people will be educated about sex, family planning and the like, the government still leaves the decision of whether to follow the RH Bill programs or not to be still based on the judgment of the parents and couples, based on their personal convictions and religious beliefs.

= __**Am I for the RH Bill? Yes, but not completely.**__ =