Filipino Bishops Oppose Abortion Ordinances

The Bishops spoke out against local ordinances that would legalize abortion, as well as the distribution of contraceptive or abortafacient drugs.

MANILA (LifeSiteNews) - Catholic Bishops in the Philippines cautioned their flocks to beware of local or national laws and ordinances that would show disrespect for life or the family, reports Fides News Agency.

Although abortion is illegal in the Philippines, Catholics "must defend the sacredness of human life," said the Bishops, who convened an international conference, which featured a number of seminars and talks from experts on bio-ethics, in 2007.

The Bishops spoke out against local ordinances that would legalize abortion, as well as the distribution of contraceptive or abortafacient drugs. Quezon City, the most populous city in the Philippines, has proposed an ordinance advocating both abortion and contraceptives as a means of promoting "reproductive health."

"As your Bishop I urge you to defend human life and the family today in serious danger," said Bishop Honesto Ongtiogo of Cubao. "We need to be vigilant now as Catholics, firmly and faithfully believing in the truth handed down to us from Lord Jesus Christ through the Catholic Church. Let us be ready to hold prayer rallies if and when so needed to prevent the passage of this deadly ordinance."

Population control groups have long been battling the traditional Christian views prevalent in the Philippines in an effort to pass laws that would introduce abortion and contraceptives as population control mechanisms. Bishop Ongtiogo recalled that these practices violate God's law, reminding Catholics to use their right to object to any practice that will aid the spread of the culture of death.

"[Those who promote these ordinances] use the name of the poor on the issue of poverty to push their deadly intent of promoting contraceptives and abortifacients," he said.

Bishop Ongtiogo encouraged priests to help educate the populace about the Church's opposition to these ordinances.

"We strongly oppose these proposed ordinances for Quezon City because these would kill the unborn children, cause deadly cancers, destroy the Catholic educational formation of our youth and take away from us our intrinsic inalienable right to the free exercise of a correct conscience and our right to freedom of worship in the Catholic faith," he said.

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