To the Editor:

December 3, 2010

In dismissing broad public support for the RH Bill, Jose C. Sison argues that the Philippine public is too ignorant to have an informed opinion about the legislation and, therefore, its views should be dismissed.

However, on the issues of contraception and abortion, it is Mr. Sison who has a poor grasp of the facts. First, contraception—including so-called emergency contraception—only serves to prevent a pregnancy.

Second, Mr. Sison seems unaware of the wealth of evidence demonstrating that access to family planning services dramatically reduces unplanned pregnancy and, thereby, dramatically reduces abortion (since behind almost every abortion is an unplanned pregnancy). And around the world, unplanned pregnancy and abortion rates tend to be low where contraceptive use is high, and vice versa.

Lastly, Mr. Sison says that those who support or practice contraception “fail to grasp the real meaning of ‘responsible parenthood’.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Around the world, contraception allows women and their partners to make responsible decisions to bring children into the world when they are best able to provide for them. Consider, for instance, that 98% of sexually active U.S. women use birth control over the course of their lives (regardless of their religion), including many who are already parents, and those who want to become parents in the future but don’t feel they’re quite ready yet.

Ultimately, allowing and supporting the use of contraceptives reflects the belief that women and their partners—and not politicians or other third parties—know best when the right time is to have children and how many children to have. Unlike Mr. Sison, the Philippine public seems fully aware of this simple truth.

Sincerely,

Sharon L. Camp, Ph.D.
President & CEO, Guttmacher Institute
125 Maiden Lane,New York,
NY 10038, USA, +212-248-1111