The dire consequences of the Vatican ban on contraception

Seven out of ten of the 92 million in the predominantly Roman Catholic country of the Philippines would defy the Church and elect a president who supports birth control. This is the result of an opinion poll by the Manila-based Social Weather Stations.

The poll found that 68 per cent of voters agreed that “all of the legal means of family planning that a couple might choose to use should be available from the government health service”. The Church claims that 80% of Filipinos are Catholic.

Before campaigning began in February for the May 2010 elections, the Church generated sufficient political pressure to derail a reproductive health bill that had been before the House of Representatives for two years. The bill would have required the government to provide comprehensive family planning, including the distribution of contraceptives. The Philippines has one of the highest birth rates in South East Asia, at about two per cent annually.

The government’s own Population Commission (PopCom) has warned that at the current growth rate, the Philippines’ population could reach 184.4 million by 2040, creating massive pressure on the country’s social infrastructure.