University Assignment: Critical Analysis of Reproductive Health Policy

This report presents a critical analysis of the Philippines' Reproductive Health (RH) policy, specifically the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, in light of Divine Law and Natural Law. The analysis examines the arguments for and against the policy, focusing on the Catholic Church's opposition to certain aspects, particularly those related to abortion and contraception. The report highlights the Church's stance based on Divine Law, which opposes abortion and contraception, and Natural Law, which emphasizes the right to life and natural family planning. It also discusses the ethical considerations for nurses in handling post-abortion cases and the importance of respecting patient privacy and moral values. The report references the Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses in the Philippines and explores the socio-economic and personal preferences that should not influence nurses' behavior. The analysis includes references to relevant literature and provides a comprehensive overview of the key issues and perspectives surrounding the RH policy.

Running head : CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH POLICY
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH POLICY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH POLICY
Response to Q1.
The Reproductive Health care policy bill passed in 2012 for empowering women and
increase the reproductive health rate in Philippines by President Benigno Aquino III (Luczon
& Francisco, 2015). The bill was proposed to improve sexual education and better
reproductive health among the population. The Church opposed the law as the policy
supports the use of contraceptives and legalization of abortion. Over 5000 pregnant, women
died every year, and 3 million families do not have family planning services (Dayrit et al.,
2018).
Divine Law is one of the most conformed laws by the Catholic Church, and the law
states that order from God or gods cannot be denied. The Church never supports the concepts
of abortion, as they believe that after fertilization, no one has the right to terminate zygote
neither the health experts nor the parents (Cherry, 2016). 1983 the Code of Cannon Law
denied the membership of the people who supported the abortion rule (Law, 2015). Church
questions the government about the effectiveness of the medicines and the contraceptives for
possible related threats. IUD use can cause infection and inflammation in the uterus.
Condoms are failed to prevent the risks of AIDS or HIV and Hepatitis B, and the failure rate
is 10%-30%, so according to Church usage of contraceptives has no values (Deeks et al.,
2015). Ligation and Vasectomy make the parents infertile, and the concept of abortion is an
evil concept as it terminates an unborn life. The contraceptives and the birth control pills can
cause unwanted abortion, pregnancy complications and the Church denied the RH bill on
these aspects. According to the Church, if the government cannot provide some right
medicines or preventions to the people so the RH bill should not be implemented.
Natural Law does not support the concept of abortion as the philosophy of “right to
life” is violated. As per the Church, the perceptions related to “the benefit of doubt” are the

2
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH POLICY
alibi concepts for the contraception or abortion policies (Stanlis, 2017). Use of condoms and
the birth pills are also denied by the natural law as these are considered barrier of natural
family planning. The reproductive health policy prevents the tendency of teenage abortions
and pregnancy, which are genuine problems of the population of the Philippines. The
contraception denies some important ethics and values such as immorality, disrespect for
women, eugenics, and disrespect for the human body (Watt, 2016). According to the Church,
contraception will increase the infidelity and moral issues among the conjugal couple. The
disrespect towards woman will also be a result due to the use of contraception. The
population is one of the strengths of the nation and due to promoted contraception; the
growth of the population can be compromised. Natural law supports procreation and union of
the marital couple, but the idea of contraception prevent the possibility of reproduction,
which is considered as an achievement by the Church.
Reproduction Heath policy in the Philippines is regarded as the pro-life, pro-women,
and pro-youth choice in the Philippines as the policy promotes quality of life among poor and
illiterate population. The maternal mortality rate in a live birth is 114 per 100000 in 2015,
which is 2.56% less than in 2014(Maravilla, Betts & Alati, 2018). Due to inabilities to
acquire proper measures regarding the reproduction health, approximately more than 800000
unintended births, more than 560000 abortions and more than 5100 deaths of mothers
occurred (Maravilla, Betts & Alati, 2018).
Response to Q2.
Post-abortion or abortion situations are highly sensitive for any patient and privacy is
the primary concern in those type of cases. Nurses sometimes have dilemmas regarding the
circumstances of abortions as the psychological state, religious beliefs and personal moral
values become the barrier for them. Professional and epithetical behaviour is expected from a

3
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH POLICY
nurse, especially in a situation where reproductive health is a critical concern. The
Philippines is suffering from problems regarding teenage pregnancies and maternal health for
a very long time. Nurses should respect everyone regardless of the values, ethical choices,
castes and religions. Sometimes unwanted or forced pregnancies affect a woman’s health
right and condition; as a result, they opted for abortion. The health workers should maintain
dignity and respect of any patients as per the code of conduct (World Health
Organization.,2015). There are specific rules to protect the patient’s dignity and moral values
in the Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses in the Philippines. Section 5 in Article III depicts
the regulations regarding the maintenance of patients’ dignity and moral issues. The socio-
economic conditions and personal preferences should not be conducted from the side of
nurses. Loyalty and trust between nurse and patients should be maintained, and the
preservation of the details is mandatory for the health workers.

4
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH POLICY
References
Cherry, M. J. (2016). Sex, abortion, and infanticide: the gulf between the secular and the
divine. Christian Bioethics: Non-Ecumenical Studies In Medical Morality, 17(1), 25-
46.
Dayrit, M. M., Lagrada, L. P., Picazo, O. F., Pons, M. C., & Villaverde, M. C. (2018). The
Philippines health system review.
Deeks, S. G., Overbaugh, J., Phillips, A., & Buchbinder, S. (2015). HIV infection. Nature
reviews Disease primers, 1, 15035.
Law, C. (2015). the Code of Canon Law. Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America.
Luczon, C. A., & Francisco, J. S. (2015). Commentary: Sustained advocacy produces success
in the Philippines. Global public health, 10(2), 271-272.
Maravilla, J. C., Betts, K. S., & Alati, R. (2018). Trends in repeated pregnancy among
adolescents in the Philippines from 1993 to 2013. Reproductive health, 15(1), 184.
Stanlis, P. (2017). Edmund Burke and the natural law. Routledge.
Watt, H. (2016). The ethics of pregnancy, abortion and childbirth: Exploring moral choices in
childbearing. Routledge.
World Health Organization. (2015). Health Worker Role in Providing Safe Abortion Care
and Post Abortion Contraception. World Health Organization.