Framing Reproductive Health Message

Reference to Rappler's commentary 

"Babies are not blessings"

Wish that Rappler’s Ana P. Santos had simply entitled her essay "The Cost of Child Rearing in the Philippines", instead of this sensational yet scandalous title.

Source: deepbox.com

I do not support the Reproductive Health (RH) Law along this line of reasoning and framing which is somewhat close to the logic of eugenics (specifically, the author's Platonic eugenicist concluding argument that "each and every pregnancy should be wanted and properly planned for"). I support the RH more on the basis of the principles of education, well-being, socio-economic development, and the good life. My political-economic sense is that, in the context of Philippine socio-historical realities, the focus of the struggle must be to create the material conditions (e.g., institutions and policies) necessary for the state and/or society to prevent social problems and prepare for all social needs and challenges, including health-related and societal issues such as unplanned pregnancies and unemployment. In a word, my approach is to target the 'structure of poverty' primarily and not concentrate the solution—or the blame—on the 'psyche of the poor victims'. 

This is just a feedback on the author's way of framing the message. As activists, we should be careful and strategic about the way we communicate, as well as the syntax and diction we use. Even in multicultural countries with good RH practice where I have experienced. living, studying, and working, their knowledge dissemination activities, communication strategy, and information drive on public health concerns are mindful of and sensitive to peoples' sensibilities. We are dealing here with social realities and real-life issues, not merely theoretical abstractions and, as far as I know, there exists no sovereign individual immune from historical-structural constraints. Perhaps the author has to learn from Filipina mothers who have experienced prenatal care, birthing, mothering, and being women in more developed countries where reproductive health — including the perspective towards babies, the challenge of rising teen pregnancies, and women's rights — are not promoted in the way she has framed it in her commentary. 

Is the author a mother, I wonder? If so, there must be something in her personal life and experience that has greatly shaped this particular outlook. If not, I hope that when she becomes a mother/parent she would write again on the same theme. My observation or hypothesis is that, even among feminists, I see a marked difference in worldview between mothers/parents and non-mothers/non-parents.