×

Our award-winning reporting has moved

Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:

climate change, the impact of technology on society, and inclusive economies.

Philippines Church official says reproductive health bill unneeded

by Thin Lei Win | @thinink | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Tuesday, 6 September 2011 16:49 GMT

* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

As reported by the Philippine Star

As the number of mothers who die giving birth has been declining in the Philippines for the past few decades, there is no need to enact the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, according to an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the Philippine Star reported.

The official cited a study conducted by the University of Washington in Seattle that showed that the maternal mortality rate in the Philippines has dropped by 81 percent from 1980 to 2008, as well as findings by United Nations agencies that found the maternal mortality ratio declined from 11.2 deaths a day in 2000 to 4.6 deaths a day in 2008.

The controversial bill is supposed to give women more control on family planning matters but the Church opposes access to and information about contraception methods, with one Archbishop calling it the “sex bill.”

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

-->