Manila set to defy church over family planning
Emma-Kate Symons; 27/9/08
Social revolution and “hedonism” are coming to Asia’s only Catholic country as The Philippines’ Congress prepares for the first time to back government distribution of free condoms and the pill to poor families. The historic law defying church teaching could be voted on as early as next week. Couples would be offered a choice between natural family planning - based on abstinence during women’s fertile days in their menstrual cycles - and artificial methods. President Gloria Arroyo’s administration favours the former option. Sex education, including family planning, would be mandated for pre-teens and adolescents in schools, a move one priest condemned as “child abuse”. If advocates of contraceptive choice win, as expected, the movement is expected to grow to embrace reform of marriage laws, and even legalisation of abortion.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24407764-25837,00.html
Tags: Christianity, Human Rights, The Philippines