What's wrong with HB 3773? A LOT!!! (New Online Petitions added!)

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Interreligious Korean Group to Promote Life and Family

SEOUL, South Korea, JULY 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Believers of various
faiths in South Korea have united to form a "Civil Alliance" to
protect life from conception until natural death.

The group also aims to safeguard the family; to encourage couples to
have more children; and to guarantee the elderly improved living
conditions.

To achieve its goals, the alliance will promote awareness and media
campaigns, meetings and special activities.

The alliance comprises Catholics, Protestants and Buddhists. Father
Benedict Song Young-ho represents the Catholics, the Reverend Song
Kil-won the Protestants, and the Venerable Il-gwan the Buddhists.

The alliance leaders presented the initiative to the public at a
recent media conference, reported the Vatican agency Fides.

The three leaders said Korea's social balance is threatened by a
declining birthrate -- one U.S. estimate puts the rate at 1.26
children per woman. The leaders also highlighted the need for a
social movement to promote fundamental values for the good of society
and the nation.

They noted an increasing number of divorces, lack of policies to
support families, and a widespread culture of selfishness. To counter
these tendencies, the alliance will monitor government policies,
point out abuses, and propose laws.

Alternative Info and Opinion: http://www.phnix.net
[img width=447 height=60]http://www.phnix.net/phnix_logo02.jpg[/img]
Prolife Phils. http://www.prolife.org.ph

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Take note that the Philippine Constitution explicitly mandates that human life must be protected from the moment of conception. There is no ambiguity about when human personhood begins.

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This could happen here if HB 3773 is passed!

Congress Holds Hearing on Pharmacists and Morning After Pill

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A House committee on Monday held a hearing
on the problems associated with legislation that is forcing pharmacists to dispense
abortion-causing drugs like the morning after pill. The hearing featured a debate
on patient access to drugs versus respecting the moral beliefs of health care
professionals. Illinois Congressman Don Manzullo, a Republican, opened the House
Small Business Committee hearing with comments about problems in his own home
state. There, Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued an executive order forcing all pharmacists
to fill all prescriptions for legal drugs, including the morning after pill which can
sometimes cause an abortion. Blagojevich faces three lawsuits from several
pharmacists in the state seeking to overturn the order. "No one, least of all a
health care provider, should be required to violate his or her conscience by
participating in procedures that he or she deems harmful," Manzullo said. "The
government should never force anyone to choose between his business or his
beliefs." Rep. Nadia Velazquez, a New York Democrat, disagreed and said she found
it "ironic" that Republicans support individual rights when it comes to pharmacists
but don't when it comes to abortion. But, Illinois pharmacist Luke Vander Bleek said
the debate was a human rights issue. "I will not invest, and I will not practice in an
environment in which we are legally obligated to be involved in the destruction of
human life," he told lawmakers.

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China's One-Child Policy Tips Scales
25 Million Men Could Remain Single

ROME, JULY 29, 2005 (Zenit.org).- China might soon become the
most populous country of bachelors, reported a missionary of the
Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions.

Father Giancarlo Politi, speaking on Vatican Radio, said that the
one-child policy, instituted to "maintain control over the population,
so that it wouldn't grow enormously," favors the birth of boys
among Chinese families.

"There is still a need to seek by all means to have at least a male
child," said the priest.

As a result of the policy, instituted in 1979, an estimated 25 million
young men in China might remain single for life.

"The family without heirs leaves the couple in a relationship of
virtual sterility, also from the human and not just the procreative
point of view," he said.

This policy is "truly inhuman," stated the missionary, in that it
stipulates "compulsory abortion for those without permission to
have a second child," said Father Politi.

Off the books

The policy has also "given origin to a practice of having children outside
the law."

Many children are not registered in China. "It will not be possible to
indicate the number because it will be speculation," said the priest.

Although families with money might be able to obtain the registration,
"it is true that all those born without permission do not exist" legally,
and are the target of blackmail "at many levels," he said.

He said the law was instituted to redress the effects of an earlier policy
based on the motto: "'The more we are the better,' as this way we can
face the enemy and win."

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This is what happens when birth control goes out of control!

Appeals Court Considers China Woman's
Forced-Birth Control Asylum

Miami, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
last week considered the asylum request of a Chinese woman who
says she was apprehended by population control officials in her
native land and forcibly given a birth control device. Feng Chai
Yang had had two children, a violation of the Asian nation's strict
one-child population control policy. Yang says she kicked and
screamed as Chinese population control officials implanted an
intrauterine device in her body on two occasions. Doctors also
gave an injection of an unknown substance that Yang says could
have been a sterilization drug. The appeals court is considering
whether Yang's experience is horrific enough to qualify her for
asylum in the United States. U.S. officials found Yang in New York,
but her case was transferred to a Miami immigration board. Yang
told the court she was jailed for having more than one child and
fined. She fears returning to China because she could be subjected
to more fines and more prison time. Yang could also be forcibly
sterilized -- something that could win her the asylum she seeks.
Marco Pignone III, Yang's attorney, argues that Yang's asylum
should be granted under a vague section of the Immigration and
Nationality Act. "It's obvious that she's being targeted," Pignone,
who has handled numerous asylum cases, told the Daily Business
Review. Pignone said he needs more time to prove that Chinese
officials are using experimental sterilization drugs. If he can find
additional evidence, he says he can win the case.

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IARC MONOGRAPHS PROGRAMME FINDS
COMBINED ESTROGEN-PROGESTOGEN CONTRACEPTIVES AND
MENOPAUSAL THERAPY ARE CARCINOGENIC TO HUMANS

An IARC Monographs Working Group has concluded that combined
estrogen-progestogen oral contraceptives and combined estrogen-progestogen
menopausal therapy are carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), after a thorough
review of the published scientific evidence.

At the same time, the Working Group stressed that there is also convincing
evidence that oral contraceptives have a protective effect against some
types of cancer.

There are both beneficial and adverse effects for oral contraceptives and
menopausal therapy. Each woman who uses these products should discuss the
overall risks and benefits with her doctor.

Full story at:
http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Press_Releases/pr167a.html

Note: IARC is the International Agency for Research on Cancer

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5th and 6th Teen Sexuality Teaching & Counseling

You are cordially invited....
5th Batch - August 17-19
6th Batch - September 21-23

[img width=388 height=500]http://www.prolife.org.ph/ezimagecatalogue/catalogue/variations/290-400x500.gif[/img]

Download the invitation:
http://www.prolife.org.ph/filemanager/fileview/13

[mannyamador]

Suggestions for Anti-abortifacients bill

Since the PLCPD and its USAID cronies are trying to get around the Philippine Constitution's prolife provision (which recognizes that life begins at conception), perhaps we should work on trying to get a bill passed that explicitly prohibits the sale or use of abortifacients.

The law should specifically ban the IUD, Depo-Provera, the pill in all its forms, RU-486, and any other contraceptivesd that have not been shown to be free of any abortifacient effect. All of the abovementioned contraceptives have been shown to be abortifacient.

Hopefully this will cut down on the number of unknown and unrecorded early chemical abortions occurring in the country. At the very least it will enforce the provisions of our Constitution.

Suggested text for preamble of bill

• Whereas the Philippine Constitution explicitly recognizes that human life begins at conception and not implantation of the fertilized ovum in the uterus of a human mother;
  
  
• Whereas the Philippine Constitution further mandates that such human life be protected;
  
  
• Whereas certain forms of contraceptives have been determined to cause the destruction of human life by making it difficult or improbable that the fertilized ovum -- already recognized as a human life -- can implant in its mother's womb thus leading to its eventual destruction and making such contraceptives abortifacient;

This bill is proposed, so as to prevent and prohibit the sale, acquisition, importation, manufacture, distribution, prescription, and use of such abortifacient contraceptives, in accordance with the provisions of our Constitution.

Please join in with your suggestions!

[mannyamador]

Sienes: Fight to preserve the Filipino family
By Cris G. Sienes
Different Strokes
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav...t.strokes.html

"... HB 3773 is an ingeniously crafted piece of legislation aimed at undermining the
Filipino family and Filipino family values. We should not allow this to happen."

IT'S a fact that, through the magic of the Internet, this column has readers in the
United States and Canada. Most of them are fellow Ateneans, students at the
Ateneo de Davao High School, and fellow Dabawenyos who are now residing in
those places. A few are Americans who, more by accident than by design, stumbled
upon this column through the Internet and have since been keeping track of some
articles in this column which are of interest to them.

A case in point is Ms Eileen M. Cosby of Washington DC. Ms Cosby, the executive
director of the Filipino Family Fund (more on this a bit later) corresponds regularly
with my eldest daughter through the Internet.

Ms Cosby asked for a copy of my article in this column about HB 3773 and the
Ligtas Buntis program of the Philippine government.

Ms Cosby was able to get a copy of my article through the Internet. She called
my column piece "great work" and said that she would forward copies of it to
journalists in Washington DC and probably elsewhere in the United States. So
without asking for it, that column piece of mind is getting publicity mileage in
some parts of the United States. And here's why.

Very few Catholics in the country probably know that Catholic Fil-Ams, Catholic
Pinoys and Americans in the United States, all pro-life advocates, are waging a
no-nonsense war against our House of Representatives' HB 3773, the so-called
reproductive health bill.

The reason why they are against the enactment of HB 3773 into law is because
they consider it a threat to the Filipino family. They look upon the country as the
last bastion of the family, which is being assaulted and undermined elsewhere
in the world. They want to preserve the Filipino family, so they are fighting the
passage of HB 3773.

And not just with words, mind you. They are actually raising funds through Ms.
Cosby's The Filipino Family Fund to help pro-life groups in the country in their
war against HB 3773. They are even in contact with some of our pro-life
congressmen and some prominent pro-life people in the country.

Here in the country, one prominent oppositor to HB 3773 is lawyer Jose C.
Sison of TV's "Ipaglaban Mo" fame. Atty. Sison says that HB 3773 is not really
a reproductive health care bill because it actually exposes women to serious
health risks through the use of contraceptives. Our public officials, says Atty.
Sison, have a duty to prevent health risks among our women. Hence, it is the
height of irresponsibility to cozen our people into believing that HB 3773 is a
reproductive health care bill. It is a betrayal of public trust.

But the most damaging criticism against HB 3773 came from one who is privy
to the government's population control and ligtas buntis programs. I am
referring to Ligaya Acosta, former spokesperson and family planning officer of
the Department of Health for Eastern Visayas. Acosta left her well-paying job
at the Department of Health just to fight HB 3773. She says HB 3773 is not
about population control. It is "Plain murder."

Acosta should know. She was among the country's family planning experts
called to a seminar in Manila for the implementation of the ligtas buntis
program and HB 3773 once it becomes a law. They were told to do a
house-to-house campaign to distribute contraceptives, including IUD
insertions, which have caused the early deaths of many women, and the
implementation of sterilization services.

For his part, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, the president of Pro-Life Philippines,
belies the claim of the government that overpopulation contributes to poverty.

The answer to the country's economic problems is good governance and not
population control. Atienza also warns that excessive propaganda on the use
of contraceptives which is mandated by HB 3773 could result to high incidence
of abortion and promiscuity among the young.

On the other hand, economist Bernie Villegas says our doubling population is
simply being used as a propaganda tool to scare us. The more Pinoys, the
better, because people power is the answer to our country's future.

Personally, I view the bill as unconstitutional on the ground that our
Constitution mandates the state to recognize and protect the sanctity of the
Filipino family and to promote its full development. HB 3773 is an ingeniously
crafted piece of legislation aimed at undermining the Filipino family and Filipino
family values. We should not allow this to happen. The Filipino family is the
foundation of our country.

I am calling on my students at the Ateneo de Davao, who are now members
of the House of Representatives, like Rep. Corazon Malanyaon of Davao
Oriental, Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr. of Davao del Norte, and Rep. Ruy Elias
Lopez of Davao City to oppose HB 3773.

Point to ponder: "Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the
womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the
children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them."
(Old Testament: Psalms CXXVII, 3-5)

(August 10, 2005 issue)

[noelkoi]

bills , bills, and more bills.......