Bishops back Protection of the Unborn Child bill

THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) gave its full support to the “Protection of the Unborn Child” bill being pushed in the Senate on Monday, saying it was the “much anticipated and much welcomed fruition of the promise and mandate” of the Constitution.

At a joint hearing of the Senate committees on youth, women and family relations, and constitutional amendments, lawyer Jo Aurea Imbong, executive secretary of the CBCP’s legal office, said the CBCP favored the passage of the proposed measure contained in Senate Bills 2407, 2584 and 2635 because it acknowledged and asserted the fundamental and inalienable right to life.

The bills prohibit the use of “abortifacients, abortive acts and practices that induce abortion.”

“The unborn offspring of conception is human life –whether wanted o unwanted, unplanned or mistimed. Senate Bills 2497, 2584 and 2635 acknowledge and assert this fundamental and alienable right to life. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference favors their passage into law,” Imbong told the committees.

“The measures are the much anticipated and much welcomed fruition of the promise and mandate in Article II, Section 12 of the Constitution,” she added.

Imbong lamented that at present, the “inalienable right” to life of the early human being was “endangered,” pointing out the intensified campaign by RH and women’s rights advocates for the passage of a law, allowing “safe and legal abortion.”

“The argument is heard that the unborn human is not a person, hence may not be the holder or subject of rights. How did this idea come about?” she asked.

The CBCP has strongly opposed the controversial reproductive health bill now being debated in the House of Representatives.

Report from Inquirer.Net