DOH: Existing law enough to tackle childhood pregnancies

Despite the increasing number of pregnancies among children under 15, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa on Sunday expressed reservations about the controversial Senate Bill 1979 or the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill.

According to Herbosa, there is no need for a new law to tackle the issue, as Republic Act No. 10354, or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law of 2012 (RH Law), simply needs to be properly implemented.

“Ang tingin ko hindi nakatulong [ang bill]. Nagkagulo kasi nga, nagalit ‘yung Catholic Church, nagalit ‘yung isang grupo, ‘yung Project Dalisay, nagalit ‘yung… nagkasagutan at nag-debate. Hindi tayo aabante kapagka ganyan,” he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(I don’t think the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill helped. It caused conflict—the Catholic Church opposed it, as did Project Dalisay. There were debates and arguments. We won’t move forward that way.)

“Meron naman tayong Reproductive Health Law at hindi naman tayo kailangang magpasa ng panibagong batas. Ang importante ay maturuan natin ang lahat ng ating mamamayan na ang problema ay ‘yung unplanned pregnancy at ang pagtaas ng mga namamatay dahil sa panganganak,” he added.

(We already have the Reproductive Health Law, and we don’t need another law. What’s important is educating our citizens that the real problems are unplanned pregnancies and the rising maternal deaths due to childbirth.)

Herbosa emphasized that pregnancies among those aged 15 and below fall under “childhood pregnancy” and are inherently unplanned.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed that 2,113 babies were born to mothers under 15 in 2020. This figure increased to 2,320 in 2021 and further to 3,135 in 2022.

Meanwhile, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros introduced a substitute bill to Senate Bill 1979 with amendments addressing concerns about Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE).

Hontiveros, chair of the Senate Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality Committee, expressed confidence that the revised bill would address President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s concerns about the previous version. — DVM, GMA Integrated News