I proposed to do my brother’s assignment in Philosophy and it had something to do with family planning and contraception. so after postponing doing it for some time, I finally got my lazy self to read up on the subject. What I learned appalled me.

    I admit, I like having sex as much as the next person, but I try to be responsible about it. Leejay and I’ve had first hand experience on how hard it could be to have an unplanned pregnancy. It is only our luck that we were a bit on the better side of the fence than others who had gone through the same ordeal. The fact that my husband is employed and is earning quite decently helped alleviate the otherwise detrimental effects of unplanned pregnancies and accidental parenthood.

    For my self, I take pills as a means to control my pregnancy. My husband and I have agreed on this method and it worked for us, so far, unless I’m too cranky and forgot to take my medication for the day. But despite that, the pills do work for us and it has helped to keep my family happy and healthy.

    Back to my brother’s assignment, I found out that the government – our local government, that is – advocates the natural family planning method, and in accordance to this, artificial methods of contraception are banned from baranggay health centers and government funded hospitals. Instead, women are taught given a “talk” about natural methods like the calendar rhythm method, abstinence and withdrawal. They are told that these methods have a 99% efficacy though the poor women have no idea how vastly inaccurate this claim is.

    I could only shake my head on how our country’s government is handling the issue on population. Okay, we’re practically 80% Catholic but that doesn’t mean that we should just follow the church’s position on family control without thinking about it for ourselves. The church has the right to suggest it’s idea on how a couple should go about spacing children and how to enjoy their sex life without resorting to “unnatural” and “immoral” methods. But then again, men, women, you have your own minds! It’s okay to take a suggestion but think about it first! You have a choice for crying out loud. Barring your religious conviction, there should be no problem in taking artificial contraceptives. Taking the pill or using a condom is not a sin, as some devout individuals would persist on telling you. Try to think instead of your future, and what you think is sinful or not should be a personal matter. It should not be dictated to you by anyone biased, else you’d have trouble reconciling things with yourself and be burdened with unnecessary guilt.

    Take the reins of your family life in your hands and decide as a couple about your family’s future. It is your choice. Yake a look at the link below and the links in its footnote for other info.

http://lestercavestany.com/2008/01/26/who-left-the-fetus-in-malacanang-and-why/

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