Monday, June 17, 2013

Philippines health law tests power of Catholic church - The Washington Post

see - Philippines health law tests power of Catholic church - The Washington Post


"x x x.

MANILA — In what is expected to mark a pivotal moment in this rapidly developing but still impoverished nation, the Supreme Court of the Philippines will weigh next month the constitutionality of a new reproductive-health law that pits the entrenched power of the Roman Catholic establishment against a rising tide of modernization and economic aspiration.
The measure, which was signed into law in December after a bitter 14-year battle between women’s rights advocates and Catholic bishops, would fund access to contraceptives for the nation’s poorest women. The key question before the court is whether it violates a 1987 constitutional guarantee of protection for “the life of the unborn from conception.”
epa03743068 The Milky Way is seen between the Biferstock, the Piz Urlaun and the Toedi mountain above Linthal, Switzerland, in the early morning hours of 13 June 2013.  EPA/ARNO BALZARINI

Photos of the day

Colorado wildfires, U.S. Open golf championship, palm oil production, tribolite exhibit and more.

New Snowden documents: Britain and U.S. spied at 2009 summits

<p></p>New Snowden documents: Britain and U.S. spied at 2009 summits
Latest disclosures put Britain, United States in awkward position as G-8 summit begins outside Belfast.

Obama, E.U. open trade talks

Obama, E.U. open trade talks
President’s three-day European visit begins with an address to students and the launch of a G-8 summit.

Tunisian regime struggles with Islam

Tunisian regime struggles with Islam
Questions of national identity and religion are among the many challenges confronting the country that ushered in Arab Spring.

Philippines Supreme Court to rule on new reproductive health law

Politically charged case pits the Roman Catholic establishment against a rising tide of modernization.

Iran’s new president unlikely to push social change quickly

Iran’s new president unlikely to push social change quickly
Hassan Rouhani is apt to take a measured approach, which might disappoint reform-minded voters.
Catholic bishops in this profoundly Catholic country of 96 million argue that any form of contraception other than Vatican-approved “natural” methods or abstinence is tantamount to abortion. They also warn that the RH bill, as it is called here, is the first step down a slippery slope that will inevitably lead to the legalization of abortion, euthanasia, divorce and same-sex marriage.
The law has been backed by a loose alliance of women’s groups, medical professionals, academics, business leaders, celebrities and a few progressive Catholic organizations. It also received key support from President Benigno Aquino III, who ignored threats of excommunication to actively campaign for its approval.
Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, a vice-chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said that Aquino’s support for the RH bill was a declaration of “open war” on the church.
It is not a war the bishops intend to lose. Long accustomed to a position of unquestioned power and privilege in the Philippines, the church hierarchy fears that its moral authority is eroding in the face of dynamic economic growth — the Philippines has just replaced China as the fastest growing economy in the region — coupled with the deepening frustration of the many millions who remain mired in poverty.
Although 80 percent of the population here identifies itself as Catholic, polls have consistently indicated that slightly more than 70 percent support the reproductive health law.
“For the Catholic Church here and for the Vatican, this is a real struggle. This is a country they don’t want to lose. We are the last bastion of Catholicism in the Old World colonies,” said Sylvia Estrada-Claudio, director of the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s Studies and a longtime activist for reproductive health.
x x x."