Pope Benedict says that condoms can be used to stop the spread of HIV

[sharkey360]

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Pope’s pronouncement on condoms strengthens RH bill – Lagman

A staunch advocate of the reproductive health bill welcomed on Sunday Pope Benedict XVI's pronouncement that HIV-infected male prostitutes could use condoms to prevent the spread of the disease, adding that this weakened the local Catholic Church opposition to the RH bill.

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, author of reproductive health measure House Bill 96, observed that this was a ``departure from the strictly very conservative approach of the papacy and the Catholic Church'' on contraception.

``That is a welcome development because the papacy is opening up to the eventual contraceptive use,'' he said in an interview by phone.

``Once you have opened up and made an exception, the liberalization of the Church outlook has started. And we'd expect further liberalization. He has made an exception, then more exception would be forthcoming,'' he added.

The Pope said HIV-carrying male prostitutes could use condoms as a first step of taking moral responsibility to avoid infecting partners, but stressed that this was not a ``real or moral solution.''

Benedict also reaffirmed church teaching opposing artificial contraception, and reiterated the church’s position that abstinence and marital fidelity would be the only sure way to prevent HIV.

Lagman said that the Pope's comments ``weakened the Church opposition'' to the controversial RH measure, which would mandate the government to provide artificial and natural means of birth control in public health centers to ensure the spacing of children.

"That impacts on weakening the Church opposition, because that opens an exception to the Church tenets against contraceptive use,'' he said.

Lagman declined, however, to say whether the pronouncement would draw even more votes for the RH bill in Congress. The bill has drawn the support of President Aquino and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

``The RH bill is already strong by itself. Whether the Pope says it or not, it does not diminish our advocacy and the import of the RH measure,'' he said.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, author of HB No. 13 seeking to protect the rights of the unborn child, offered a different view, and said that the Pope's pronouncement was irrelevant to the RH measure.

``The Pope's comment is more of a health matter because it's talking about preventing infection. Whereas the RH bill is about population,'' he said by phone. ``You're talking of HIV-infected persons. You're not preventing babies, but preventing infection.''

Golez doubted that RH proponents could use the Pope's pronouncement to their advantage since the Philippines had among the lowest incidence of HIV cases worldwide.

To prove his point, Golez quoted a Vatican analyst who said that he didn't see the Pontiff's comments as signaling a ``sea change in the Church's broader birth control policy, as condoning the use of a condom to prevent the spread of a disease is not the same as saying it's okay to use one to prevent pregnancy.''

``I don't think the RH group can use this to their advantage,'' he later said in a text message.

The House committee on population and family relations is scheduled to hear Lagman's HB 96 and other related measures on Wednesday.

Golez said he would raise objections to the bill's referral to the committee on population, instead of the committee on health, it being ``chiefly a health measure.'' But Lagman maintained that the bill falls under the population committee.

``If it's not referred to the committee on health, it will be anomalous,'' Golez said.

Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose administration aligned with the Church position against the RH measure, has co-authored Golez's HB 13 on the protection of the unborn child.

Golez said that she was ``just being consistent'' and said the fact the economy grew during her nine-year watch without controlling the population refuted the pro-RH argument that unchecked population could hinder economic growth.

Pope’s pronouncement on condoms strengthens RH bill – Lagman - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

[clarkhkent]

dako pa kaayo ning debatihonon sa mga kaparian....

[AmorsoloX]

dako pa kaayo ning debatihonon sa mga kaparian....

this will severely affect the strength of the church's stand on the whole RH-bill thing..

though, i applaud the pope for his modernistic approach to morality.. its hard to keep living on ages long past. mao bitaw gi imbento condom kay para contra HIV and unwanted pregnancy

-morality through education and scientific enlightenment... to hell with religious mis-information campaign. to hell with unrealistic propositions. to hell with religious douchebags who says they are the only righteous lot..

[masterjanuarius]

Well, the Pope says, "condom can be used to stop the spread of AIDS" .. and not the free *** mentality among the young .. I think, it means that all who are HIV positive persons should not be deprived of S3X .. but rather can use condom so as not to infect a partner.

[james_chaw]

Well, the Pope says, "condom can be used to stop the spread of AIDS" .. and not the free *** mentality among the young .. I think, it means that all who are HIV positive persons should not be deprived of S3X .. but rather can use condom so as not to infect a partner.

good point, but His Holiness didn't really reiterate and strongly discourage pre-marital relations.

[james_chaw]

It's one thing for the government to say it's ok to use condoms but when it comes to the church, it's another thing altogether. That's why the separation of state and church was done in order to maintain "objectivity". that's why they must pass the RH bill in order to stop HIV/AIDS, re-educate, document, prevent and instill a form of discipline in all "practitioners" of the act.

[r0mm3L]

i choose abstinence over condom.

sayang akong effort para mag buhat ug something nga wala gani koy ma feel?

[homeryap]

At last someone is making sense na jud. You cant stop people frim being who they are so the next best thing is prevention.

[kit_cebu]

i guess the fanatical-anti-RH-people here will start calling him the anti-christ anytime soon..

this statement made me think about the one i read about a few years ago that the pope who will succeed john paul II will be the 3rd anti-christ...

anyway, on topic, this is a mindblow for the conservatives...

[Adamot]

its high time to face the music and the sad reality