Catholic Archbishop Jesus Dosado of the Philippines made headlines earlier this month when he said the would prohibit pro-abortion politicians from taking communion. Now he's extending that ban to any lawmaker who supports a controversial piece of legislation in the nation's Congress. Dosado released a pastoral letter two weeks ago saying that Catholic politicians there who promote overturning the nation's pro-life laws against abortions should not receive communion. The letter instructs parish priests to deny the sacrament to the pro-abortion politicians until they reverse their position favouring abortion.On Tuesday, Dosado extended that to lawmakers favouring a bill that would promote contraception and birth control and call those drugs essential for health care. “I extend it to people legislatively for reproductive health,” he said in a phone interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Though the bill doesn't legalize abortion, Dosado said it goes against Catholic teaching to such an extent that he feels compelled to act. “The bill hides many things. It doesn't mandate abortion but there are things that are hidden in it that would lead eventually to abortion,” he told the newspaper. The measure also promotes mandatory sexual education in schools and the distribution of the morning after pill and also allows minors to get birth control without parental notification. It also requires health insurance plans to promote birth control. “We have to be not ambiguous with our wording. That is what we object about the bill,” he said.“Christian life, or life based on the teachings of Christ as entrusted to the apostles, is the affirmation of life, and especially the affirmation of the new life in Christ. This new life in Christ flows from the Eucharist,” he said. “Consequently, Catholic politicians and legislators, conscious of their grave responsibility before society, must feel particularly bound, on the basis of a properly formed conscience, to introduce and support laws inspired by values grounded in human nature,” the Ozamiz prelate added.
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