Position Paper on the RH Bill by individual faculty, students and alumni of the University of the Philippines
POSITION PA PER ON THE RH BILL by individual faculty, students and alumni of the University of the Philippines* As faculty members, students and alumni of the University of the Philippines, we state here the bases of our objection to the consolidated Reproductive Health bill that is pending in Congress. Given the secular background of UP education, we put forward arguments from reason, to wit: 1. Population is not an obstacle to development . The bills assume that a nation’s population hinders its development that is why they push for the promotion of a two-child policy, massive distribution of contraceptives, sex education (to acquaint young people with contraception), and sterilization, all of which make use of taxpayers’ money. However, as early as 1966, Nobel Prize winner Simon Kuznets’ research has shown that there is insignificant empirical association between population growth rates and output per capita (economic growth) . Rather, it is the