That headline is lifted from an interview in an Associated Press article that appeared in Friday’s Leader-Post examining the fallout from a bill passed into law by Filipino President Benigno Aquino III last month called the Responsible Parenthood & Reproductive Health Act.
The law, which provides for state funded contraception for poor Filipinos as a means of helping the country overcome problems of poverty, homelessness and crowded slums, has come under sharp criticism from Catholic church leaders in the Philippines who regard it as an attack on the church’s core values.
A legal challenge has been mounted but even among observant Filipino Catholics — like the 30-year old woman quoted above, who has five children aged two to 12 and works as a roadside vendor — the law has strong support. So attempts by the church to challenge it aren’t likely to succeed, and instead will probably diminish its moral authority in the country by emphasizing how out of touch church leaders are with mainstream Filipinos.
Here’s a link to the article.
