Abortion rights, reproductive education,

safe sex and informed consent—III

The right to abortion was defined and acknowledged for the first time in the ruling of the US Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade case—giving women the free choice to interrupt pregnancy because the right to do so is a fundamental element of the right to privacy. Previously, abortion was allowed, in some cases, as an exception to the norm on the defense of human life. After this ruling, the law ceased to be interested in the conceived child as a victim, and shifted its interest to the mother. 

The right to abortion is called many names—interrupted pregnancy, menstrual regulation, etc., mainly out of a desire to hide the truth about the nature of abortion itself. But the truth is brutally simple—it always concerns the killing of the conceived child and destroying a baby’s life.

What is reproductive education?

In the language of the United Nations, reproductive education is the process of acquiring complete, accurate and relevant information on all matters relating to the reproductive system, human sexuality, forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy and gender roles. This also includes evaluating and discussing the moral, religious, social and cultural dimensions of related sensitive issues such as contraception and abortion.

This definition displays the propagandizing aims of reproductive education—it is meant to overhaul society’s values, attitudes and beliefs regarding sexuality and procreation. It is meant to make young people see that religious and moral values taught by their parents as myths on sex and sexuality deserving of ridicule and disdain. Though countries in the West do not have population-control programs, their subreplacement fertility is so low they now run the risk of population implosion. This was a result of a drastic change in sexual morality due to sustained sex-education programs. The sex-education program has been in place in the Philippines since the 1970s. The current third edition is now entitled reproductive health, and is much more explicit on sexual techniques rather than values education. These modules were patterned after the Sex Information and Education Modules of the United States originally developed by Mary Calderone and Alfred Kinsey of Kinsey Institute implemented in the American schools in the 1960s. In plain language, its content is pornographic; Kinsey Institute supports materials like Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler based on the research work of Eichel and Judith Reisman. 

It assumes that young people are also subject of sexual rights and, therefore, they have a right to value free information about human sexuality, contraception, etc. Ultimately, the objective is to encourage early sexual activity among the adolescents and create a demand for contraceptives and abortion among the young.

Parents have a duty to teach their children how to live the virtue of chastity. Giving the age-appropriate biological information hand-in-hand with the moral significance of sexuality, parents educate their children to love responsibly.

What is safe sex?

The term “safe sex,” created in California and New York—“hotbeds” of HIV/AIDS—designates the condom as the best method against contamination by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during sexual activity. 

The media hype that has promoted use of condoms ignores scientific findings that show that the male sperm can comfortably pass through the pores of the condom, and HIV, which is even smaller, has an even easier passage. The facts also show that in countries such as Thailand, where condom usage is widespread, the incidence of HIV infection is reaching epidemic proportions.

What is informed consent?

The relationship between doctors and patients should be an interpersonal relationship and founded on trust. This should imply that patients should be well-informed regarding the numerous side effects of contraceptive drugs, the long-term consequences of procedures performed, etc. But the history of family planning is fraught with instances where patients do not receive complete information regarding the side effects of contraceptives:

Side effects of the pill = premature hypertension, heart attacks and strokes, embolism; carcinogenic (breast, cervical, liver cancer); leg cramps, nausea, infertility and bloatedness.

Tubal ligation = high risk for ectopic pregnancy

Vasectomy = risk of auto-immune response disorders

In some cases, patients, without their knowledge, are made to undergo interventions that mutilate them, like surgical sterilization, which are often irreversible. 

Informed consent is a principle of medical ethics. The dignity of the patient implies a right to decide autonomously whether to accept or reject what is done to him both as to diagnosis and treatment. “Informed consent” is explaining to an alert and mentally competent patient the nature of the illness, the relation between its effects and the risks and benefits of the recommended procedure or procedures in order to obtain the patient’s approval or rejection of those procedures. 

The presentation of information should be complete and never cursory. The patient’s cooperation should be obtained without coercion and without the doctor using his “scientific prestige.”

To be continued next issue. You can find the source of this article on www.rcam.org.

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Servant Leader: Abortion rights, reproductive education, safe sex and informed consent—III

The right to abortion was defined and acknowledged for the first time in the ruling of the US Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade case—giving women the free choice to interrupt pregnancy because the right to do so is a fundamental element of the right to privacy. Previously, abortion was allowed, in some cases, as an exception to the norm on the defense of human life. After this ruling, the law ceased to be interested in the conceived child as a victim, and shifted its interest to the mother.

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