Decision on family planning method rests on couple amid debates on RH Bill
By Fayette C. Riñen
CEBU CITY, May 19 (PIA) - As the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill draws mixed reactions and heated debates from both pro and anti advocates, the chief of the Cebu City Health Office (CCHO) said the final decision on family planning methods rests ultimately on the couple themselves.
CCHO Chief Dr. Stella Ygonia said the issue should be taken objectively and that on their part, the alarming rise of HIV/AIDS cases in the country is something that needs immediate action which is precisely the reason why we are educating the use of condom as a prevention measure.
Of the ABCD (abstinence, be faithful, condom use and diagnosis – know your status) approach in educating the public on the dreaded HIV/AIDS disease, “we are more on the AB education because adherence to such means zero possibility in acquiring the killer virus,” according to Ygonia.
Ygonia however, said that for sexually active people with multiple sexual partners, “safe sex should be practiced like the use of condom.”
The use of contraceptives like condom, intrauterine device (IUD), and pills among others for couples who want to plan their family is favored by pro-RH Bill advocates but which have earned the ire of the anti-RH Bill led by the Catholic Church labeling the bill as pro-abortion and anti-life.
Ygonia said that it should be the prerogative of the couple what their preference is, may it be natural or alternative method, in planning the size of their family.
“We are duty-bound to educate couples needing information on all kinds of family planning methods may it be natural or alternative means because we want to provide them the available options,” the city health officer said.
Ygonia dismissed allegations that condom use is promoting indiscriminate sexual behavior and stressed that the AB strategy is the priority advocacy as she said this is where the Catholic Church can be of tremendous help in their HIV/AIDS and STD prevention campaign.
The city health officer meanwhile said that planning the size of the family is healthy for both themother and child because it gives time for the mother’s body to heal and time to nurture the child which cannot be done when birth spacing between children is very near. (PIA 7-Cebu)