Yes, Life Begins at Conception: Coming to Terms With Nature in Imbong v. Ochoa

Jo Aurea M. Imbong
November 2015
Reproduced with Permission

Abstract:

Immediately after the enactment by the Philippine legislature of The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, fourteen public interest lawsuits challenged the constitutionality of the new law, raising issues of transcendental importance to human life and the family. In a landmark 2014 Decision, the Philippine Supreme Court accorded ample protection to early human life from the moment of conception - not after, not at implantation, not after birth - because "a human being begins immediately at fertilization." The Court added that "any philosophical, legal, or political conclusion cannot escape this objective scientific fact." This finding of the High Court upholds the fundamental right to life, a right it said was grounded on natural law and transcends any authority or the laws of men. In its aftermath, the Judgment effectively forecloses all inroads to the legalization of abortion in the only Christian country in Asia, amidst a global conspiracy for abortion rights.

Days before Christmas of Year 2012, the Philippine President signed into law Republic Act (R.A.) 10354, "The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012" (commonly referred to as the "RH Law"), an act of Congress that before its passage, went through 15 years of debates not only in the halls of Congress but more stridently in the parliament of the streets.

It was a very demanding campaign that started with opposition to a Reproductive Health Law or the RH Law in my country. Why was there a strong campaign against it? Mainly by the bill\s deceptive language to disguise a malevolent agenda for massive population control in the Philippines.

Such deception was couched in words in the proposed law.


Click here to read entire paper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_-Mzs0ev9ssWDVhWGIwOUV0RXM/view?usp=sharing

Top