Answer the following questions and post your answers here. Cite references if possible.
1. What is your opinion about the practice of family planning? Are you for it or against it?
I definitely am pro-family planning. It has a multitude of benefits to individuals worldwide. Through family planning, current and first-time parents can have sufficient time and knowledge for them to prepare themselves psychologically and financially according to the number, timing, and spacing of their future children.
Ensuring access for all people to family planning services and their preferred contraceptive methods empowers various human rights including the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and the right to work and education, as well as bringing significant health and other benefits for both men and women. Furthermore, the availability of family planning services allows individuals to achieve desired birth spacing and family size and contributes to improved health outcomes for infants, children, women, and families, thus contributing to sustainable population growth and economic development for countries worldwide.
Family planning helps protect women from any health risks that may occur before, during, or after childbirth. By reducing unintended pregnancies, family planning also removes the option for unsafe abortion and lessens the maternal morbidity and mortality rate. Family planning and, more specifically, contraception, can help people of reproductive age, especially teenagers so that they can avoid the physical, emotional, and financial burden of unplanned pregnancies. Furthermore, it can help a couple or an individual decide on what’s best for their sexual and reproductive health.
When a couple or an individual is aware of their rights and knows what their options are, they can make informed and sound decisions in life. By carefully spacing pregnancies, parents can have enough time and resources to raise a family wherein all of their children are fully-supported and are physically, mentally, and financially well taken care of wherein they have a proper upbringing and stable future. Alongside postpartum care, couples and individuals of reproductive age should be educated and counseled on family planning so that current and future parents, as well as their children, would benefit in the long run. A family that is properly cared for is healthy, and a healthy family is the foundation of a healthy community.
2. Are you in favor of the Reproductive Health Law and its provisions? Elaborate on your answer.
The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 ensures universal and free access to all methods of contraception for all citizens regardless of socio-economic class. It aims to help impoverished communities at various local government health centers, thus contributing to reducing the poverty and overpopulation rate of the country. Underprivileged women and families lack sufficient reproductive health education, family planning counseling, and knowledge on women’s rights to healthcare. Therefore, careful planning and decision-making are not practiced among such individuals, specifically in terms of spacing the timing of having children and starting a family. It is a known fact that safe and effective contraceptive services are still lacking in different parts of the world, especially in the Philippines. Millions of individuals of reproductive age in developing countries do not use any contraceptive method at all or still rely on traditional contraceptives which do not have a high guarantee of success, leading to an increase in unwanted pregnancies, especially among adolescents, thus increasing cases of them seeking for abortion, which contributes to the country’s maternal mortality and morbidity.
Through this legislation, Filipino women can now be given the reproductive health services and information they deserve. They will be able to regain control over their fertility, reproductive health, and sexual choices. It is indeed a historic advancement for all women in the country, as women are now empowered to make their own decisions about their health and families and be allowed to be more active participants who have full and equal choices in their society.
Therefore, through the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, Filipinos can gain the right opportunities to be educated on family planning and contraceptive use, which helps them overcome poverty and be more financially stable to raise children. By providing easily accessible family planning services, including counseling and contraceptives, they are given the chance to make sound and well-informed decisions in order to manage their sexual lives.
Overall, the RH law improves health promotion for all, enhances the wellbeing of Filipino families, reduces the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases, and contributes to recognizing women’s rights in communities. It also aims in empowering Filipinos, particularly women and the youth, through informed decisions and appropriate education according to one’s age and developmental stage. By ensuring inclusive and appropriate programs, everyone will have easy access to information, facilities, and services concerning reproductive health; therefore, all sectors of society can benefit and aim towards improving the health outcomes of the country.
References:
Family Planning. (2020). Healthypeople.gov. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/family-planning
Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH)- General Information. (n.d.). POPCOM Region VIII. https://rpo8.popcom.gov.ph/responsible-parenthood-and-reproductive-health-rprh-general-information/
The Medical City. (2020). Importance of Family Planning. The Medical City. https://www.themedicalcity.com/news/family-planning-basic-human-right