The Three Dimensions of the RH Bill

According to Section 4 of House Bill NO. 4244, though abortion is illegal and considered as crime as based from the Revised Penal Code, the government will still prioritize the health of women needing assistance for post-abortion complication by requiring hospitals to attend to their needs. In an article, "Roman CBCP said that abortion is a criminal offense in the Philippines so no law can be passed that will include criminal offense such as allowing abortion." "The intent of the RH Bill is to uphold the constitution in no way tolerate or allow abortion to come in through the back road or behind the scene," Cayetano, principal sponsor of the Bill. said in an in Inquirer report.

Under Section 16 of the Reproductive Health Bill which tackles the Mandatory Age-Appropriate Reproductive Health and Sexuality Education, certain points have been raised by the supporters of the controversial bill to the government. According to an article published August 4, 2012 on ABS-CBN News , UNAIDS country coordinator Teresita Bagasao said that the lack of an RH law contributes to the increase in HIV/AIDS cases. “More than 90 percent of new infections in the country are because of sexual transmission. That is high and these were caused by unprotected sex. Those who are getting infected are getting younger and it speaks of lack of access to adequate information that will equip our boys and girls, young men and women with information. We need those provisions in the RH bill,” she said. On the contrary, according to an ABS-CBN News article, on October 20-29,2010, Pulse Asia conducted a survey about whether or not the Filipinos support the House Bill No. 4244 or more commonly known as the Reproductive Health Bill. 7% of 1,200 adult representatives disagreed with the RH Bill and 44% of it discorded with the inclusion of “Reproductive Health Bill and Sexuality Education” in school curricula. The Catholic Church promotes only natural family planning, which contradicts the endorsement of the RH Bill – age-appropriate sex education. As policy it states that the State "guarantees universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable, effective and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information and education thereon even as it prioritizes the needs of women and children, among other underprivileged sectors."

According to Section 11 of House Bill No. 4244 (An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development and for Other Purposes), the Department of Health (DOH) would be in-charge for the allotment of family planning supplies, such as condoms and birth control pills to the Local Government Units (LGUs). DOH with LGUs shall organize the planning and implementation of the procurement and distribution of the supplies. There are factors that are considered for the proper supply and budget allocation. According to an Inquirer report, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, the CBCP President, said that the budget that is supposed to be used for funding contraceptives should be spent to solve problem regarding child labor in the country and for the employment of their parents. Meanwhile, on the same report, the reason of the government for the distribution of contraceptives is to eradicate the increasing rate of maternal mortality.