On Artificial Birth Control

Dear Reader,

Artificial birth control is a major issue, especially for our country and what’s happening in it today. Alarmed by the rate of sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS, the Department of Health has decided to distribute condoms, perhaps the most popular method of artificial birth control, to those who require it. Also, for the past few years, the proposed Reproductive Health bill, which promotes information and access to natural family planning and artificial birth control, is still under debate.

Since our country is a mostly Catholic one with conservative religious beliefs to uphold, the Church is in constant objection to government proposals concerning artificial birth control, calling for resignation of officials who promote the usage of artificial birth control. Due to fear of the Church, some government policies revolve in abolishing artificial birth control, such as the Executive Order No. 003 in 2002 at Manila. This battle between the Church’s anti-artificial birth control movements and government attempts to promote it supports my stand that it is a major concern especially for our country.

While the Church has a noble cause to promote abstinence, sometimes it is not an option, especially for the uneducated and the poor. I am not saying that the views of the Church are wrong, it’s just impractical nowadays. I cannot and will not prove that satisfying human sexual urges is immoral, as I am not in the position to do so. However, I believe that these urges are natural, as it is an organism's function to reproduce. Sometimes, it is not viable to reproduce at all, but the urges are still there. In addition, humans have always been relying in tools to help them. Artificial birth control is such a tool to satisfy sexual urge for those who are unable to cope with abstinence and do not want to procreate, which, I believe, is a more practical approach. Unplanned and unwanted pregnancies might result in suffering for the parents and more to the child. It might also lead to another issue, which I wouldn't want to tackle, that is abortion.

A third issue that relates to artificial birth control is population control. I am not here to prove, nor do I believe I’m in the position to show that the population of our country is due to lack of access to artificial birth control. Also, I cannot prove that the population of our country is directly linked to poverty. But I do believe that if there is actually promotion of use of artificial birth control, it would certainly affect our alarming population rate. I also believe that the alarming population is linked to poverty, as shown by some of the news articles I have read. Without birth control, there are more mouths to feed, which makes the poor even poorer. This is another reason to stand for artificial birth control.

Personally, since my religious views are primarily non-Catholic, I see nothing wrong with artificial birth control. Without using it, unplanned and unprepared births causes harm, not only to the parents, but also, and perhaps more, to the child. It can also be used to prevent spread of sexually-transmitted disease, which has become epidemic in our country. Finally, it can also be used as a tool to control the alarming population rate, and in turn, help alleviate poverty.

In the end, I guess one’s stand on the issue depends much on their religion and fear from it. I find it sad that the advantages of artificial birth control are overshadowed by the impracticality of the actions of the said religions.

tl;dr: I am all for the promotion and use of artificial birth control.

Sincerely,

Pro-Artificial Birth Control,
Inggo (2004-09434)


P.S.
This is meant to be an assignment for Natsci 2, which asks for my stand on this issue. While this is addressed to whoever reads this, it doesn't necessarily concern you. Also, this is written as such in order to preserve the style I have been using for this blog.