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 am absolutely for the practice of family planning. The availability of family planning enables individuals to attain desired birth spacing and family size. It comes in the form of various services, such as (1) contraceptive services, (2) pregnancy testing and counseling, (3) pregnancy-achieving services, including preconception health services, (4) basic infertility services, (5) sexually transmitted disease (STD) services, (6) broader reproductive health services, including patient education and counseling, (7) breast and pelvic examinations, (8) breast and cervical cancer screening, and (9) sexually transmitted infection (STI) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, counseling, testing, and referral (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2022).
This wide variety of services covered by family planning can produce improved health outcomes, not only for women, but also for infants, children, families, and society. Some of the benefits that family planning entails are (Guttmacher Institute, 2008):
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Improvement of maternal health and child survival. Planning out pregnancies at the right time benefits both mothers and children. Furthermore, meeting the unmet need for contraceptives would further aid in reducing maternal mortality rates by 35%, and a three-year interval between births in developing countries would further lower rates of infant mortality by 24% and rates of child mortality by 35%.
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Reduction of the number of overall abortions, especially unsafe abortions. Meeting the unmet need for contraceptives would help reduce the number of abortions globally by 64% each year. More than half of all abortions occurring in developing countries, such as in the Philippines, are unsafe. Proper family planning would help lessen unsafe abortions, which would consequently lead to fewer maternal deaths and injuries.
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Reduction of the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. Improved access to condoms helps reduce the rate at which STIs are spread. Furthermore, equipping HIV-positive women with knowledge on how to prevent unplanned pregnancies and births could also contribute to the reduction of the rate of new HIV infections.
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Empowerment of women. Women who are given control over the number and timing of their children can are given more educational and economic opportunities, which could help in improving their own future and that of their families.
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Promotion of social and economic development and security. Proper family planning helps control population growth. High population growth can hamper the economic growth of poor countries as their expanding populations compete for limited resources such as food, housing, schools, and jobs.
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Protection of the environment. A rapidly growing population can exacerbate environmental degradation and can also strain the resources in the world. Proper family planning helps in slowing down population growth rates.
As observed, the benefits of family planning are many and well-documented. As a future nurse, I feel like it is my responsibility to advocate for proper family planning to promote better health for all. Family planning does not only improve the health of mothers and their children. It can also impact communities and nations by producing stronger, healthier, more productive citizens who can better care for themselves, educate their children, and put less strain on limited resources.
2. Are you in favor of the Reproductive Health Law and its provisions? Elaborate your answer.
As mentioned earlier, I believe that there is a need to strengthen the promotion of family planning in the country to produce more favorable health outcomes. In line with this, I also am in support of the Republic Act 10354 or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law of 2012 and its provisions. The Reproductive Health Law is a national policy that mandates the Philippine government to comprehensively address the needs of Filipino citizens when it comes to responsible parenthood and reproductive health. It guarantees the following: (1) access to services on Reproductive Health (RH) and Family Planning (FP), with due regard to the informed choice of individuals and couples who will accept these services, (2) maternal health care services, including skilled birth attendance and facility-based deliveries, (3) reproductive health and sexuality education for the youth, and (4) regular funding for the law’s full implementation (Simon, 2013).
What I appreciate most about how the RH law is crafted is its inclusivity to people in the margins. With it in place, women, especially the poor, will have full access to RH information and avail of services that they deem necessary to address their RH concerns. The law actually outlined specific measures on how the delivery of RH services and information to the people can be improved (Simon, 2013):
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Provision of additional and necessary funding and other necessary assistance for the hiring of skilled health professionals for maternal health care and skilled birth attendance
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Provision of additional funding and other necessary assistance for the effective establishment and upgrading of hospitals and facilities complete with adequate and qualified personnel, equipment, and supplies and able to provide emergency obstetric and newborn care
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Establishment of a program for the procurement and distribution of family planning supplies
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Training of Barangay Health Workers (BHW) and other barangay volunteers on the promotion of reproductive health
I feel like the aforementioned measures can help in the promotion of not only quality but also a more inclusive approach to reproductive healthcare, which is why I perceive the law as something important and necessary for our country. However, it must also be noted that the enactment of policies is not the be-all and end-all of policy advocacy. At the end of the day, the proper implementation of the law will be what will truly make an impact.
References:
Guttmacher Institute. (2008). World Population Day-Six Reasons to Support Family Planning. https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2008/07/world-population-day-six-reasons-support-family-planning
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2022). Family Planning. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/family-planning
Simon, F. (2013). A Primer on the Reproductive Health Law. https://www.plcpd.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/A-primer-on-the-Reproductive-Health-Law.pdf.