It’s not about the sins of sex, but for women to control their lives – UN official

The use of condoms and other contraceptives are not to encourage sexual promiscuity, but to give Filipino women, especially mothers, the chance to determine the size of their family and to ensure health, a UN official said Wednesday. Suneeta Mukherjee, country representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said women should be empowered by contraceptive use as it ensures their health. “(The debate about women’s use of contraceptives is) not about sex or promiscuity but being able to control their lives," Mukherjee said during the Wednesday launch of the UNFPA launch of its annual State of World Population Report in Pasay City. The report carried the theme: “Facing a changing world: women, population and climate." According to the UNFPA official, 1.8 million or about half of the 3.4 million pregnancies in the Philippines in 2008 were not planned. Based on the UNFPA population report, for every 1,000 live births in the Philippines, 22 infants die later. This figure is higher than in neighboring Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. “Government and society must provide means to enable (women) to have children along with safe delivery," Mukherjee added. The UNFPA official echoed the advocacy for reproductive health invoked last week by visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Manila. “I think empowering women to be able to make choices that are in the best interest of the children they already have, and the family size that they desire – it increases education outcome, it increases income generation, it provides a much stronger basis for human development," Clinton said in reply to a question by GMANews.TV's Howie Severino during her visit. The Roman Catholic Church and many pro-life advocates have strongly opposed any legislation promoting the use of contraceptives in birth control. Instead they propose sexual abstinence and marital fidelity to combat problems concerned with reproductive health. In Congress, the Reproductive Health Bill has been seen to address the key issues regarding women’s health and contraceptive use, but it is nearly impossible to have it approved in the current session, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said. During the presentation of the UNFPA report, Lagman said the issue of overpopulation and reproductive health could be addressed only through the lawmakers’ support. “If there is global warming, there should be more warm bodies inside the session hall," he said. - GMANews.TV