What's wrong with HB 3773? A LOT!!! (New Online Petitions added!)

[mannyamador]

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Mr. Amador,
The depth of your knowledge of the debate on the HB 3773 is impressive. Would you have a blog? If not, I think you should have one.

Thanks so much. I have a website, which is not exactly a blog since it doesn't have the automated features. I'm still developing it. But you can see it now. It's at:

http://www.phnix.net

I've posted stuff on a number of issues. There's a discussion board where others can submit articles. Article submissions are, of course, subject to approval before they get on the main page, but the discussion board is pretty open. I also post on some other blogs such as this one and PCIJ.

Thanks very much for your comments. God bless!

[K]

Took a look. Interesting mixture. Open Source Software Advocacy + Pro Life Advocacy

But I guess they mix in a weird sorf of way: one is againts tyrants who try to control technology. The other is againts tyrants who try to control humans.

[mannyamador]

Took a look. Interesting mixture. Open Source Software Advocacy + Pro Life Advocacy

Thanks! I hope to improve it in time. I don't use any special tools kasi, just a regular text editor. I do HTML the old way.

But I guess they mix in a weird sorf of way: one is againts tyrants who try to control technology. The other is againts tyrants who try to control humans.

I guess they are different sides of the same coin (or of the same polyhedral object!).

[mannyamador]

[size=18px]Here and There : Ligtas buntis?[/size]
By Roy Cimagala
Mar 05, 2005, INQ7.net
http://news.inq7.net/viewpoints/inde...d=29435&col=68

AN ugly controversy is now raging over the government's latest family
planning campaign, "Ligtas buntis" [Filipino for safe pregnancy].

This issue, to me, has become a real pain in the neck. Like a broken
record, it's amazingly stubborn, refusing to simply fade away. It keeps on
popping up in the public attention, a very pesky irritant indeed.

The problem at bottom is the insistence that the Catholic Church should
change its position on family planning, and that it should just keep quiet
about what the government and other groups are doing in the area of family
planning.

Well, they might as well expect the end of the world first before such
change can come. When a basic moral issue is involved, the Catholic Church
will not be silenced, even if it has to be crucified in public opinion.

The trouble is that this Ligtas buntis campaign, while heavily sanitized
and deodorized, continues to be afflicted with the basic sick idea that
contraception is just okay, especially given
Write the editor the poverty, ignorance, blah, blah, blah of the people.

It tries to appear human by boasting that it respects freedom, it is meant
to pursue noble goals like safe pregnancy, avoidance of unwanted
pregnancies, it is sensitive to the plight of the poor, the women, and the
children, etc.

To gain more strength and attractiveness to their position, they try to
get a consensus of the people regarding family planning issues. As if the
truth and nature of things depend on the consensus of people.

Then it tries to paint ghosts of the true position of the Catholic Church.
For this, some sectors accuse the church of being anti-poor, anti-women,
anti-freedom, of meddling in government affairs, of being unrealistic,
trapped in some outdated ideas, etc. Hello!

As long as its concept of freedom includes the cafeteria approach of
presenting only the medically and legally approved methods of family
planning, without giving due consideration to the moral requirements, that
campaign will meet an active resistance from the Catholic Church. No doubt
about that.

Morality is never a superfluous requirement in human life. It is not meant
only for the rich and for the able. It involves every one of us, since it
is part of our nature, and especially of the supernatural character of our
being.

As such it has a universal dimension. We cannot say that just because we
are dealing with poor and ignorant people, then we just can excuse them
from the moral requirements. No sir!

If we are dealing with poor and ignorant people, or those who are
difficult to teach and handle, then we have an objective problem to solve.
But the solution cannot be by revising morality. We would actually be
revising human nature that way.

Some sectors in the pro-contraception side try to redefine morality by
pegging it mainly if not solely on the criteria of practicality,
popularity, etc. This is not how morality is to be defined.

Morality is derived from the nature of the human person. It ultimately has
to touch on the source and author of human nature, and thus it unavoidably
has to consider the role of God.

Any concept of morality that shuns from God and an objective analysis of
human nature would be congenitally infirm, erroneous and dangerous.
Unfortunately, we now have strong ideologies that have this frame of mind.

To accuse the Catholic Church of being anti-poor, of being inhuman, etc.,
is rottenly unfair. What the church tries to say, with total respect for
the freedom of everyone, no matter how abused, is that the moral dimension
should never be ignored when we pursue matters related to family planning.

The Catholic Church has always commended the many things that are moral in
the programs of government and private entities. But when they come out
with immoral things, then it will come in, just to clarify, but never to
impose and force.

In this present campaign of the Ligtas buntis, it continues to warn people
that its cafeteria approach that includes contraception is morally wrong.
It cannot run away from this duty.

The campaign may have many other good features that are morally sound, and
the Church is quite happy with them and leaves the people to decide what
is best for them. It's when it comes out with something immoral that it
rouses the Catholic Church to action.

[mannyamador]

Here is part of an article from the New York Post concerning Ortho Evro:
http://www.yourlawyer.com/practice/n...20Evra%20Patch

THE PATCH OF 'DEATH'
New York Post - SUSAN EDELMAN

10/10/04 - A popular and profitable contraceptive patch promoted by
sexy TV ads caused 11 times as many fatal or life-threatening blood clots
as a leading birth-control pill, a new lawsuit charges.

The Ortho Evra patch is "defective" and more dangerous than the
manufacturer admits, alleges a suit by a Texas mother of two who
suffered a massive stroke and is now paralyzed after 12 days on the
patch.

This is an article from Concerned Women of America:
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/7168/CWA/life/

Contraceptive *** Patch Linked to 17 Deaths
1/5/2005
By Elaine McGinnis

Ortho Evra: more dangerous than you think.

The contraceptive patch, Ortho Evra, is responsible for the deaths of
at least 17 women since its release on the market in 2002, according
to an article in The New York Post. The most recent reported victim is
18-year-old Zakiya Kennedy.

Zakiya Kennedy collapsed last April on the upper east side of New York
City while waiting for the subway. She died one hour later on the way
to the emergency room. Her father, Kevin, told ABC News' Chris Cuomo
that, prior to his daughters death, "She was complaining about pains in
her leg or in her shoulder. She thought it was from her exercising."

The autopsy revealed Kennedy died because a blood clot had entered her
lung. Called a pulmonary embolism, the blood clot is a dangerous side
effect of the birth control patch that she wore.

Ortho Evra is used by more than 400,000 women. It is similar to the
birth control pill, yet manufacturers tout it as more convenient.
Women wear the patch for one week for three weeks in a row and skip
the fourth week. It works by secreting pregnancy-preventing hormones
into the blood via the skin.

Regrettably, Kennedys death is not an isolated case. The New York Post
used Freedom of Information laws to obtain records from the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration to discover that 16 previous deaths and
21life-threatening cases have already occurred.

For example, a 37-year-old mother of two suffered a massive stroke
after using the patch for only 12 days. She has recently filed a
lawsuit against Ortho-McNeil, the patchs manufacturer.

Dr. Andrew Friedman, head researcher of the womens unit for
Ortho-McNeil, says being aware of the signs, such as leg pain, swelling
and shortness of breath, are important. It could be a sign of a
potentially dangerous clot.

Friedman defends Ortho-McNeil by reminding consumers: On TV, almost
half of the time of the advertisement is devoted to talking about the
potential risks and potential warnings that women should be aware of.
Yet there is no mention of death as a side effect.

Kennedy's grandmother, Roberta Alloway, says Ortho-McNeil should
increase warning labels so women are aware of what they are taking.
They need to really let people know that my granddaughter and other
people have died from this patch, she told ABCs Cuomo.

"My granddaughter was an A student. Her life was cut short because she
wore a patch to protect herself from getting pregnant," she said.

Dr. Shaun Biggers of New York Presbyterian Hospital says that very few
women are expected to die from Ortho Evra. He told Cuomo: Based on our
best estimates less than two per 100,000 women less than the age of
35 will die from complications of the patch.

Yet more than twice that number have already died.

Concerned Women for Americas Senior Policy Director Wendy Wright is
saddened by the outlook of these medical professionals: Sadly, some
medical and pharmaceutical officials believe that it is OK for healthy
women to die in exchange for selling more of their products. In their
minds, dead or injured women are a worthy price for sexual freedom and
higher profits.

Lester A. Ruppersberger, D.O., a gynecologist at St. Marys Medical
Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, told Physicians for Life that the
numbers didnt surprise him. Its about money. Its about marketing. I
hear the Ortho salesman in here every week. He doesnt talk about the
pill at all anymore. All he wants to talk about is the patch, because
thats what he gets his commission on -- how many he sells.

Ruppersberger continued, Birth control pills did not do what everybody
expected them to do. [T]hey increased the rate of unwanted pregnancies,
abortion rates, sexually transmitted disease rates, abuse rates, and
pornography rates. But wasnt the pill supposed to free women?

[mannyamador]

[size=18px]HOLD ON TO YOUR PRECIOUS GIFT[/size]

A PASTORAL STATEMENT on Population Control Legislation and the "Ligtas Buntis" Program

BELOVED PEOPLE OF GOD:

Last February 15th, a committee in Congress approved a bill on population
control, "reproductive health", sexual rights for young people, and
mandatory child *** education, among others. The measure imposes fine and
imprisonment for parents, spouses, and health professionals who impede
"sexual and reproductive rights." It creates a program for fertility
control by encouraging the limitation of family size to two children. It
gives incentives to 2-child families. Women -- married or single -- will
be taught "all methods and techniques to prevent pregnancy." The sponsors
have called the proposal "responsible parenthood" and "population
management."

During committee deliberations, the authors have also denied the beginning
of human life at fertilization.

What is the underlying agenda? The central idea is to reduce our
population purportedly to spur economic growth. This is also saying that
in order to eliminate poverty, we must reduce our human resource.

The premises are all wrong. A long line of serious economists and
demographers have long discredited the Malthusian myth that positive
population growth stunts economic growth. Modern history has also
demolished this myth.

After a population control program was put in place in the country in the
1970's and after billions of public money spent every year to fund it, our
population growth has already been declining and continues to slide today.
Poverty has not been reduced. Official government data attest to this. And
if this population trend continues-and it will-the Philippines will lose
precious human capital, much to its peril.

A "Ligtas Buntis" Program.

While this is happening in Congress, the Department of Health is now
implementing nationwide a Program called "Ligtas Buntis." Touted as an
information campaign for "maternal health", "Ligtas Buntis" targets 2
million MEN, WOMEN and COUPLES OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE,
ADOLESCENTS 15-19 years old, and the POOR among us. Even INDIGENOUS
COMMUNITIES are identified as priority areas.

In this program, barangay health workers will interview couples, map and
make a masterlist of families after house-to-house, door-to-door, and
person-to-person "surveys" on their methods of fertility control.
Sexuality education, contraceptive pills and devices will be
dispensed. The surveys will be recorded, reported, and monitored.
Everything will be documented.

THE CHURCH CANNOT BE UNMOVED BY THESE ASSAULTS ON THE FAMILY

1. The legislative proposal to limit the size of the Filipino family
in the guise of "reproductive rights" is unjust, arbitrary, and
unreasonable legislation. It has no place in public governance.[/list]

2. "Responsible Parenthood" goes beyond simply providing for a
family's material needs. While we must preach about providing
bread, there is no substitute for first preaching about the higher
truth about man.

For we know by our Faith what is authentic responsible parenthood:
It means respect for one's generative functions. It calls upon
married persons to use discernment and generosity in their
decisions. It calls for due regard to physical, economic,
psychological and social conditions in deciding "to raise a
numerous family." It includes the spouses' decision "based on
grave motives and with due respect for the moral law, to avoid for
the time being or even for an indeterminate period, a new birth."
Responsible parenthood makes parents "free and responsible
collaborators of God the Creator."

3. The "LIGTAS BUNTIS" Program violates and mocks the privacy and
autonomy of couples and families. It desecrates the sanctity of
marriage and family life.

4. We CONDEMN the pressure to deny the presence of human life at the
moment of fertilization. Humanity cries for justice for the
millions of crimes and senseless abortions because of this lie.
From the fusion of the basic cells of the father and the mother
following the marital act, the fruit is already human. No human
ordinance can turn that truth into error.

TO OUR LEADERS AND LAWMAKERS -- A well-formed Christian conscience does
not permit you to write or support measures which contradict the basic
rights of families and the fundamental imperatives of faith and morals."
Christian leaders have both a political and moral obligation to safeguard
"the laws of nature and of nature's God." Failure in this duty is a
betrayal of public trust and an open defiance of your Faith.

TO ALL SPOUSES -- Build your family on the rock of Christian generosity
and discernment -- Your right to found a family is rooted on your
Christian responsibility and freedom of religious belief, together with
the right to act according to that belief. That freedom may not be
breached.

TO OUR HEALTH WORKERS -- You have the right to conscientious objection.
It is both a civic right and a Christian duty to insist on it.

TO ALL THE FAITHFUL -- Defend truth. It gives light to our reason, and
preserves us from error. Resist the enticements of false "freedoms"
and counterfeit "rights." Defend the privacy of family.

Take heart and stand firm. Be courageous in the Faith. HOLD ON TO YOUR
PRECIOUS GIFT -- that "pearl of great price." It is the source of
unfailing strength. It is your breastplate when you face the storms that
besiege conscience.

Let our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Family, be our
loving Advocate in these challenging times. Entrust to her our families.
Let us pray for the graces which the Lord promised to those who invoke
her in this Marian Year.

Manila, Philippines, February 18, 2005.

For the CATHOLIC BISHOPS' CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES

(Sgd.) +FERNANDO R. CAPALLA, D.D.
Archbishop of Davao
President, CBCP

[mannyamador]

[mannyamador]

[size=18px]Benedict XVI: Fight AIDS With Chastity[/size]
Underlines Dangers of Disintegrating Families

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 10, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Fidelity and chastity are
fail-safe ways to prevent the spread of AIDS, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope received in audience today the bishops of South Africa,
Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Lesotho, and commented on the
"devastation caused by AIDS and related diseases." The prelates were
on their five-yearly visit to Rome.

In his English-language address, the Pontiff said that he shares the
bishops' "deep concern" for the situation.

"I especially pray for the widows, the orphans, the young mothers and
all those whose lives have been shattered by this cruel epidemic," he
added.

At the same time, the Holy Father encouraged the bishops in their
efforts "to fight this virus, which not only kills, but seriously
threatens the economic and social stability of the continent."

"The Catholic Church has always been at the forefront both in
prevention and in treatment of this illness," he noted. Catholic
institutions treat 25% of all AIDS sufferers in the world.

The Church plays an important role in offering care for AIDS patients
in southern Africa, despite the fact that Catholics are a minority in
the area: 7% in South Africa, 5.1% in Botswana, 5.4% in Swaziland,
20.1% in Namibia and 41.3% in Lesotho.

Stability

Benedict XVI assured the bishops that "the traditional teaching of
the Church has proven to be the only fail-safe way to prevent the
spread of HIV/AIDS."

"For this reason, the companionship, joy, happiness and peace which
Christian marriage and fidelity provide, and the safeguard which
chastity gives, must be continuously presented to the faithful,
particularly the young," he said.

The Holy Father added: "It is of great concern that the fabric of
African life, its very source of hope and stability, is threatened by
divorce, abortion, prostitution, human trafficking and a
contraceptive mentality, all of which contribute to a breakdown in
sexual morality.

[mannyamador]

[img width=700 height=336]http://www.phnix.net/alipin06.jpg[/img]

[benign0]

Time out for some logic!

The reason other countries encourage their citizens to have more babies is because they have a rapidly ageing but affluent and educated population. Furthermore the economies of these countries are more than able to absorb new entrants into their workforce.

The Philippines on the other hand has a young and impoverished population that is largely ignorant, and barely employeable (mainly in labour-added-value industries). The economy already struggles to absorb the current workforce and will surely be impotent as far as absorbing any new souls born into the islands. Which is why millions of Filipinos depend on overseas employment (further neglecting the proper upbringing of the offspring they leave behind, and contributing to the burden the State has to shoulder to rectify the lives of wayward and unproductive future citizens).


As the venerable International Business Machines once suggested:

Think.







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