Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Philippine birth control fight not over: Catholic church leaders

Philippine Catholic church leaders vowed on Tuesday to overturn a birth control bill after lawmakers passed landmark legislation to make sex education and birth control more widely available.

The Senate and the House of Representatives approved the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill late on Monday, putting it on course to be signed into law by President Benigno Aquino within a week, after its final wording has been decided.

Church leaders, however, pledged to continue their fight against the controversial bill, with an appeal to the Supreme Court and a campaign to oust its supporters in May's general election.

Bishop Gabriel Reyes said a group of Catholic lawyers was preparing to challenge the legality of the bill in the Supreme Court as soon as it is signed into law.