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Gela/Gerabee/G/Gelaloo/Gelapagus goes by many names. She also goes by many roles on weekdays from 9-5. She talks too little, edits too often, eats too much, and should write some more.
Today, my Parish condemned me for not agreeing with the barangay ordinance
Last night, I had a nightmare where in I attended mass and it showed a Powerpoint on the RH Bill that I greatly disagreed with.
Today, that nightmare came true. Only it did not just cover the RH Bill. The mass was used to convince parishioners to sign a petition that would support the Barangay Ordinance on “The Safety and Protection of the Unborn Child”. An hour had already passed thanks to the long, highfalutin speech of the priest who insisted that if you did not agree with that ordinance, you are cursed. Yes, those were his words. He was even so defensive at first, saying that he wasn’t twisting the homily to fit a discussion on the ordinance.
My mother, a faithful member of the Opus Dei, could tell how I disgruntled and upset I was. She advised me to simply pray for the Church, as what they were using the mass for was not the essence of the sacrament Catholics observe every Sunday.
No one in my family signed the petition being passed around.
The most astounding argument was this: apparently, we have too many choices. Where we live, where we work, even how we look because of plastic surgery. So having the choice whether or not to have children is too much.
The choice as to where one lives, works, and looks is limited to the RICH. A jeepney driver can only choose where he lives based on his meager income. His wife does not have the PRIVILEGE of vanity, of deciding how good she will look, because her husband’s income can only be stretched for BARE NECESSITIES.
It is not will that makes those choices here in a third world country. It is MONEY. And of course, residents of Ayala Alabang do not understand the LACK OF CHOICE poor people suffer because they are free to choose with the MILLIONS they make.
I am not poor, but neither I am rich. I could choose to eat in Powerplant mall for lunch. But the money I make, says otherwise. Better I save the excess I would spend for the long-term. What I make is only enough to support ME, one person, and not an entire family.
Now imagine a laborer who makes a little less than I stretching that income to his wife and 5+ kids. Basic costs for food, transportation, education (if they can even afford it for ALL), and shelter are multiplied. Because their income provider makes less, less goes to each child.
TO LIVE doesn’t only mean giving birth to a kid but letting it roam naked on the streets. It also means giving that child enough food, clothing, shelter, and education to live their live to the fullest. Money gives access to these basic needs.
Also, some women do not even have the choice to have sex or not. Or the privilege of knowing what it entails. We’ve heard it before: drunk husbands coming home angry and excited, or young women having sex without any awareness of the consequences because they lack the education.
So, to the privileged residents of this village, next time you say WE HAVE TOO MANY CHOICES, consider that the WE does NOT include the MILLIONS suffering in poverty who do not have the same access to basic needs (and MUCH, MUCH, more, ie, 10+ cars in a garage) and must stretch their income to live DAY BY DAY.
By being pro-poor and pro-choice, I am pro-life.
