If You Want The Philippine Catholic Church To Care About You…
…well, I think you know what comes next. If you’ve ever wondered why I’m so “bigoted” (quote bunnies for emphasis and sarcasm) against religion and conservatism, here’s a good part of the reason why.
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) gave its full support to the “Protection of the Unborn Child” bill being pushed in the Senate Monday, saying it was the “much anticipated and much welcomed fruition of the promise and mandate” of the Constitution.
At a joint hearing of the Senate committees on youth, women and family relations, and constitutional amendments, Atty. Jo Aurea Imbong, executive secretary of the CBCP’s legal office, said the CBCP favored the passage of the proposed measure contained in Senate Bills 2407, 2584 and 2635 because it acknowledged and asserted the fundamental and inalienable right to life.
The bills prohibit the use of “abortifacients, abortive acts and practices that induce abortion.”
The exploitation of legal mumbo-jumbo in the bill is actually fairly obvious: the Philippine Catholic Church considers contraceptives as a potential abortifacient. The City of Manila (i.e. the central district of the metro, not to be confused with the metro as a whole) used similar wordplay to ban contraceptives altogether.