Calling spades are we? Lets!

As much as I get easily put off by the naive arguments of those who are against the RH bill, I have to admit that there are a few here and there who do bring up valid points. People like this guy over here

However, one thing I couldn’t get over was how he used the idiom “call a spade a spade.” I couldn’t help but want to say the same for our side. And for days, I tried to come up with a post articulating the frustration(s) I’m feeling – with no luck.

Then, I joined in on this other RH debate in Facebook, and was surprised to have posted a fairly concise thesis that summarized everything I wanted to say in a single [long] comment. And so I’m sharing that comment (edited and expanded for more cohesion) with you all.

This is reason why I’m for the RH bill. And this why I have such a short fuse when it comes to anti RH people’s arguments.

The gist is simple: the way anti-RH argue their points, it’s as if they’re ignorant to how serious poverty can be. They seem to treat it as a statistic to be studied, or used as ammo for a debate – and forget that there are actual LIVES at stake.

I’ll explain to you why I feel that way, and how disconcerting it feels. And if there are anti-RH people reading this, then by all means, I hope to hear you say things that would put my mind at ease – because your stance bothers me – as I’m sure ours bothers you. But I’m bothered not because I think you mean ill, but because I don’t think you realize the gravity of the issue. I’m bothered by the fact that I’m one of the most selfish guys you can meet, and yet even I can see how much good this bill can bring into their lives, and you are against it simply because it doesn’t resonate with your “values.”

Knowing the source of a [complicated] sickness does not negate the need for a physician to treat the immediate symptoms as best he/she can.

Yes, education is the ultimate solution. Everyone involved in this dialog ¹ That is to say the media, the politicians, and any other talking head, pundit, etc. out there can afford to say that because we all have had that privilege. And yet, despite all of us being educated by the best institutions out there, our opinions still differ. But I digress.

You know what else is common with all of us here? That we are ultimately not the beneficiaries of this bill. Unlike most (if not all) of us, there are real poor people out there – people who are suffering right now – as I’m typing this. And while the cause of poverty is certainly not limited to the unsupportable children a poor family has, you gotta admit it does aggravate their situation at the very least.

So let me ask you: what financial concerns do you have right now? Me? I don’t have a kid. I’m supporting my dad, but that’s no biggie. Truth be told, I’m more concerned about completing the payment for that five thousand dollar credit card bill from touring the United States last month. A pain in the ass, no doubt, but nothing to really get bent out of shape about. How about you? Perhaps your issues are more trivial? More severe?

But you know what the really poor people out there are probably worried about? Is if they have enough fucking food on their table for today… and maybe even tomorrow if they’re lucky. And the more mouths they need to feed, or more mouths they need to put to school (that’s assuming they can even earn that much), then the little they earn thins out quite rapidly I would imagine.

If we wait for that “ultimate solution” to come around; wait for the day when Poor old Martha, (who by then has 10 kids) would finally find out that she in fact, didn’t have to get herself pregnant every goddamn time she had to “de-stress.” ² That’s another thing; can you really blame the poor for fucking like bunnies when that’s probably one of the few things they can enjoy for free? – would “knowing” about her options, after God knows how many years it takes for the educational system to get properly sorted out, make her any more capable of getting out of that 10-mouth hole she already had dug herself into? No, because she’d be too poor by then to even afford this education you speak of. And even if it was given for free, she’d probably be too busy taking care of those 10 kids to focus on anything else.

Or what about people like Edith and Ray who did know about contraception, but were just too goddamn poor to even afford it? Yes fellow readers who can afford luxuries such as an internet connection (among other things), there are people who are that poor! Anti people may think I’m being sarcastic, which I would really like to be – but when I hear your arguments, it really makes me wonder if you have any fucking clue how poor poor people can really get?

And that’s what irks me about the anti side, I have no doubt they mean just as well as we do, but they fail to realize that:

We are the people that have a say in this; we are the people exposed in the media/internet/etc. that can influence how things play out. And the irony is, we are ultimately not the people this bill was intended for!

Even for the pro side, we can try selling the bill with all the buzzwords/phrases we can muster. Choice, freedom, Women, Rights, whatever the hell helps our cause along. But the reality is the RH bill’s existence (or non existence) will have no consequence to our middle (to upper) class lives whatsoever. The same goes with the anti side.

We will still have the education we want, we will still be informed enough to know that we have a choice. And while it may be morally debatable, we will still know it’s not illegal to use contraception. We will still have access to that information (as we always have/had) and will still be able to exercise our own judgment responsibly regardless of varying opinions.

And most importantly, we can afford to spend our money any which way we desire – whether it be on contraception (pro) or raising a kid (anti) or something else entirely… and we’d all still be fine. The same CANNOT be said for the poor!

And there’s the rub. Our decisions/influence(s) on this whole issue will not affect us any more than if we won or lost a bet with nothing but “pride” as the pot. But you know who it will affect (and quite drastically at that)? The poor.

As much as I hate to say it, but I truly think that the anti side is being grossly irresponsible when I hear their reasons for going against the bill. Andali sabihin ganito ganyan but what they don’t realize is that the bill is there to give people like Martha/Edith/Ray ways to recover from getting buried in financial hell if they still can ³ Or a the very least stop them from making it any worse and if they choose to do so.

Instead, what the anti people will end up doing is ensure people like them would never have that chance – until it’s too late.

Are you willing to let all those lives you damned to irrecoverable poverty rest on your consciences just so you can claim that you “defended” your specific brand of morality? If that’s what your “faith” is about, then I’m sorry, I don’t want any part of it.

For those anti people who do make sense (i.e. who use logic instead of “morality”); it’s a different question. You read what I had to say, and the reasons I feel we need this bill. You have your own ideas of solving the issue, such as focusing solely on education, etc. So my question is this: do you really want to take that risk of focusing solely on what you think is the root of this? Can you say with any amount of certainty that progress will be made in any timeframe? Because while you’re waiting for the educational system to get fixed, poor people are going to get poorer. Are you the doctor that will let a patient bleed to death simply because they felt that they knew what the cause of the bleeding was – and didn’t bother to put a band aid on the wound at the very least?

I will admit, the RH bill will NOT solve poverty. If any Pro RH person says that, I will be first to call bullshit on it. It’s not a magic bullet that will eradicate poverty, nor reverse the situation of those who choose to avail of its services. That would always be up to the people themselves. What it can and will do is give those poor people a chance to stop the bleeding – and in doing so it will give them a chance to get back on their feet – and then we would have a better chance of eradicating poverty.