Population Institute

ABSTRACT

Using an interpretative methodology, this paper examines the legislators’ framing of the reproductive health (RH) policy issue in order to explore the multiple perspectives, values, and beliefs underpinning the legislators’ deliberations on the RH bill. The legislators on either side of the RH debate frame the policy issue on reproductive health as a human rights issue. For the authors of the RH Bill, it addresses the right to health, but for the opposing legislators, it is an infringement on the right to practice one’s religious belief and on the primary right of parents to plan their families. Legislators opposed to the bill view it as a family planning bill that promotes a contraceptive mentality. Consequently, notions that it is mainly about birth control and, by extension, population control persist in this group. Moreover, legislators opposing the RH Bill also see it as a measure that limits the population size, which in turn is inimical to the country because without a large population, the country would not have the OFWs who keep the economy strong. A point of convergence between the two extreme positions in this debate is the opposing legislator’s concurrence that the provision of basic services, such as health care and education, is necessary to turn human resources into assets for the country. The legislators’ debates also reveal the need for legislators to revisit the government’s obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and related international treaties to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to health. Furthermore, policy discussions in the RH bill must also emphasize the complementarity between the human rights framework of the RH bill and human development in order to illuminate the specific pathways by which reproductive health can enhance the well-being of individuals.