Bishops watched closely the voting on RH from the Congress' gallery last Dec. 12
MANILA Dec. 14, 2012— As President Benigno Aquino III certified the reproductive health (RH) bill as urgent, the Catholic Church has vowed to fight the controversial measure ‘until the last breath’.
Fr. Melvin Castro of the CBCP’s Commission on Family and Life said the Church has an obligation to protect the sanctity of life and uphold its uncompromising stand against abortion and artificial contraception.
“The President’s certifying it as urgent is just to formalize what he has been doing all throughout,” Castro said.
“We are more than resolute to oppose the spirit behind the bill until the very last breath that we have,” he said.
Aquino has certified the RH bill yesterday as urgent as the House of Representatives only has three session days remaining before the holiday break.
Castro said they are still hoping that Aquino would rethink his position on the RH bill for the sake of the life of the unborn.
“We hope he understands that his administration will be stained by the blood of the innocent unborn whose right to live would be deprived from them because of contraceptive use,” he said.
“In the end, the supporters of this bill would he held accountable by God and his people,” added Castro.
Voting 113-104, the Lower House has approved the measure on second reading last Thursday.
Church officials and pro-life advocates, however, are still hoping that the ruling can be reversed once it will be tackled again on third and final reading on Monday.
“The fight is not over. We are more than hopeful that the remaining legislators who did not vote will be present on the third and last reading and for those who voted and will vote yes to the bill will have a conversion of heart through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” said Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena in a statement. “We believe in miracles.”
On Dec. 17, it will be the turn of the Senate to vote on their version of the RH Bill.
“We intensify our prayers for miracles to happen. It will happen because life is a miracle,” he said. (CBCPNews)
