PERSUASIVE SPEECH
Members:
Justin Estor, Inigo Calalang, Jose Cabador, Paul Gramaje
Topic: Reproductive Health Bill of The Philippines VS The Church
Specific Purpose: To persuade our audience that the RH Bill is indeed beneficial to our country and the
church should not intervene with the affairs of our government.
Thesis Statement: The Reproductive Health Bill is beneficent to our country and the church’s opposition
and accusations of the bill are incorrect.
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Attention material/Credibility Material: There is an old joke on the difference between a
parachute and a condom that goes like this: When a parachute gets punctured, the man dies.
When a condom gets punctured, the man (or baby) lives. While this may be funny to some
people, those who are for natural family planning methods would frown on the attempt to make
light of a serious, nay, life-and-death issue.
B. Tie to the audience: Which is better? Proper education, welfare and alternatives? Or
prevention through words and conscience?
C. Thesis and Preview: Today we’d like to talk to you about first, the importance of reproductive
education and how the RH bill is beneficial to us Filipinos, second, why the church should not
intervene and dictate the matters of the government.
[Transition into body of speech]: We’ll begin by telling you what exactly the RH bill is about.
II. BODY
A. The Reproductive Health Bill aims to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth
control and maternal care.
1. The problem is that not everyone really understands what the bill is about and its elements.
Debates about the RH bill are usually confined to the use of contraceptives.
a. ELEMENTS OF RH - Family planning is only one element of reproductive health.
Equally important are the other elements of RH which include:
(1) maternal, infant and child health and nutrition;
(2) promotion of breast feeding;
(3) prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications;
(4) adolescent and youth health;
(5) prevention and management of reproductive tract infections, HIV/AIDS and
STDs;
(6) elimination of violence against women;
(7) counseling on sexuality and reproductive health;
(8) treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers;
(9) male involvement and participation in RH;
(10) prevention and treatment of infertility; and
(11) RH education for the youth.
(Source: http://www.edcellagman.com.ph/speeches/reproductive-health/149-controversy-
behind-the-rh-bill.html)
b. There are 10 basically good reasons on why to pass the RH bill.
(1) Protect the health & lives of mothers:
The WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that complications arise in 15%
of pregnancies, serious enough to hospitalize or kill women. From the 2 million
plus live births alone, some 300,000 maternal complications occur yearly. This is
7 times the DOH’s annual count for TB, 19 times for heart diseases, and 20 times
for malaria in women. As a result, more than 11 women die needlessly each day.
Adequate number of skilled birth attendants and prompt referral to hospitals
with emergency obstetric care are proven life-saving solutions to maternal
complications. For women who wish to stop childbearing, family planning (FP) is
the best preventive measure. All 3 interventions are part of RH.
(2) Save babies:
Proper birth spacing reduces infant deaths. The WHO says at least 2 years
should pass between a birth and the next pregnancy. In our country, the infant
mortality rate of those with less than 2 years birth interval is twice those with 3.
The more effective and user-friendly the FP method used, the greater the
chances of the next child to survive.
(3) Respond to the majority who want smaller families:
Couples and women nowadays want smaller families. When surveyed about
their ideal number of children, women in their 40s want slightly more than 3,
but those in their teens and early 20s want just slightly more than 2.
Moreover, couples end up with families larger than what they desire. On
average, Filipino women want close to 2 children but end up with 3. This gap
between desired and actual family size is present in all social classes and
regions, but is biggest among those who are poor.
(4) Promote equity for poor families:
RH indicators show severe inequities between the rich and poor. For example,
94% of women in the richest quintile have a skilled attendant at birth compared
to only 26% in the poorest. The richest have 3 times higher tubal ligation rates
compared to the poorest. This equity gap in tubal ligation partly explains why
the wealthy hardly exceed their planned number of children, while the poorest
get an extra 2. Infant deaths among the poorest are almost 3 times compared to
the richest, which partly explains why the poor plan for more children. An RH
law will promote equity in health through stronger public health services
accessible to poor families.
(5) Prevent induced abortions:
Unintended pregnancies precede almost all induced abortions. Of all
unintended pregnancies, 68% occur in women without any FP method, and 24%
happen to those using traditional FP like withdrawal or calendar-abstinence.
If all those who want to space or stop childbearing would use modern FP,
abortions would fall by some 500,000—close to 90% of the estimated total. In
our country where abortion is strictly criminalized, and where 90,000 women
are hospitalized yearly for complications, it would be reckless and heartless not
to ensure prevention through FP.
(6) Support and deploy more public midwives, nurses and doctors:
RH health services are needed wherever people are establishing their families.
For example, a report by the MDG Task Force points out the need for 1 fulltime
midwife to attend to every 100 to 200 annual live births. Other health staff are
needed for the millions who need prenatal and postpartum care, infant care and
family planning. Investing in these core public health staff will serve the basic
needs of many communities.
(7) Guarantee funding for & equal access to health facilities:
RH will need and therefore support many levels of health facilities. These range
from barangay health stations, for basic prenatal, infant and FP care; health
centers, for safe birthing, more difficult RH services like IUD insertions, and
management of sexually transmitted infections; and hospitals, for emergency
obstetric and newborn care and surgical contraception. Strong RH facilities will
be the backbone of a strong and fairly distributed public health facility system.
(8) Give accurate & positive sexuality education to young people:
Currently, most young people enter relationships and even married life without
the benefit of systematic inputs by any of our social institutions. As a result of
just one faulty sexual decision, many young women and men can lose their
future, their health and sometimes their lives. We insist on young voters’
education for an activity that occurs once every 3 years, but leave our young
people with little preparation to cope with major life events like puberty and
sexual maturation.
(9) Reduce cancer deaths:
Delaying sex, avoiding multiple partners or using condoms prevent genital warts
or HPV infections that cause cervical cancers. Self breast exams and Pap smears
can detect early signs of cancers which can be cured if treated early. All these
are part of RH education and care. Contraceptives do not heighten cancer risks;
combined pills actually reduce the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancers.
(10) Save money that can be used for even more social spending
Ensuring modern FP for all who need it would increase spending from P1.9 B to
P4.0 B, but the medical costs for unintended pregnancies would fall from P3.5 B
to P0.6 B, resulting in a net savings of P0.8 B. There is evidence that families
with fewer children do spend more for health and education.
(Source: http://www.likhaan.org/content/ten-good-reasons-pass-rh-bill-now)
2. The problem is that the RH Bill is seen as “anti-life,” especially by the Catholic Church.
a. THE BILL IS NOT ANTI-LIFE. It is pro-quality life. It will ensure that children will be
blessings to their parents since their births are planned and wanted.
b. It will empower couples with the information and opportunity to plan and space their
children. This will not only strengthen the family as a unit, it will optimize care for fewer
children who will have more opportunities to be educated, healthy and productive.
c. If a family wants to have two children, then family planning will help them have two
children. If they want three, family planning, whether natural or modern, will help
ensure that they have only three. If a couple wants eight children, they have all the right
to have eight if they so desire. But without family planning, they would more likely have
nine, or 10 or 11 children, not the eight they originally wanted. And with effective access
to family planning information and services, they might just freely abandon their desire
to have many children.
(Source: The Controversy Behind the Reproductive Health Bill by Rep. Edcel C. Lagman)
B. The Catholic Church’s opposition to the government’s RH Bill.
1. The problem with this issue is that you could clearly see that there is really no separation of
powers between the church and the state.
a. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines declares: The separation of Church and State
shall be inviolable. (Article II, Section 6), and, No law shall be made respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and
enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference,
shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or
political rights. (Article III, Section 5).
b. Elected officials are very much concerned and concentrated with what the church
(Catholic) would say about the government's actions that they fail to see and implement
what should be rightly done to address the problem of over population. The
government wants to always impress the church that they wouldn't push through with
its plans that would benefit the vast Filipino people.
c. The government should not only always take into consideration of what the church
would say. The government should also take into consideration that many Filipinos now
are living beyond the poverty line.
2. How the church sees the RH Bill.
a. According to Fr. Edgardo “Bing” Arellano, the Catholic Church appeals to this “culture
of death” bill.
(1) Culture of death refers to genocide, legalized abortions, human cloning,
suicide bombers as martyrs, mass killings degradation and euthanasia.
(2) The RH Bill is specific that abortion will remain illegal, a crime and punishable
in the Philippines.
b. He (Fr. Arellano) also states that the bill “proposes” two child policy as the ideal
Filipino Family.
(1) The RH bill “promotes” the two child policy. (Promotes or encourages
means neither mandatory or compulsory.
(2) Section 16 of RH Bill: Ideal family size “The State shall assist couples, parents
and individuals to achieve their desired family size within the context of
responsible parenthood for sustainable development and “encourage” them to
have two children as the ideal family size.
c. Lastly, the church states that the RH Bill proposes sex education for Grade 2 and calls
sex education as pornography.
(1) Fact: This bill proposes sex education to begin in Grade 5. Not in Grade 2.
(2) Pornography depicts graphic sexual behavior intended to cause sexual
excitement. It is helpful for children to learn sex education in schools taught by
qualified teachers.
(3) Reproductive Health Education will be in the curriculum of both private and
public schools. It includes developing necessary skills to be able to distinguish
between facts and myths on sex and sexuality, the importance of abstinence
before marriage.
(Statements from Fr. Edgardo Arellano - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NcLaFvY054)
III. CONCLUSION:
A. Summary: As you can easily see, the Reproductive Health Bill is an effective solution to the
country’s problem in poverty. People are given the chance to make responsible family planning
decisions, they almost always decide to have smaller families and their children will invariably be
healthier, better-educated and have at least a fighting chance at living full and dignified lives.
Without this ability, most (especially women) will often find it more difficult – some may find it
even impossible – to finish their education, find remunerative work or have a say in their own
future. It is understandable that the Church would be against the use of artificial contraception
and they have the responsibility to instill/reinforce this belief to their members. But the entirety
of the Philippines is not under the Catholic Church and this is a fact that the Church should
accept. The leaders of the church should just always be there to guide its members.
B: Concluding Remarks: In this argument, it is best to always remember that there is always a
difference in opinion between the government and the church. Yet, there are ways to keep your
morals intact while still being reproductively responsible. The church will always have their rules
and teachings but it is still better to always be open-minded about new ideas, especially if those
ideas are for the betterment of everyone. No matter what side you are on, the responsible
decision should always come from yourself. Always think before making a choice.
