Carolina Austria's blog | RH Reality Check

ICPD + 15: Debating Health Care When It’s No Longer “Business as usual”

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

September 4, 2009 - 7:00am (Print)

ICPD+15 is an opportunity to reflect on public health systems as core social institutions in the face of market failures and inadequacies, including corporate ineptitude in meeting the needs of ordinary people.

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Sexual Rights and Wrongs: Policing the Gendered Order

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

August 10, 2009 - 6:00am (Print)

The absence of penal laws and widespread violence against homosexuals and transgender persons does not make the Philippines totally “gay friendly” or even “pro-trans.”

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What Filipino Catholics Say About Abortion

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

July 1, 2009 - 8:00am (Print)

As hard as it has become in the US context to explore common ground in the abortion debate, in places like the Philippines, even mustering a public discussion about contraception has become increasingly difficult in recent years.

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Listening to "Filipino Voices" in the FOCA Debate

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

February 25, 2009 - 8:00am (Print)

While it is not surprising that many Filipino-Americans have conservative views about women's right to choose, it is not fair or accurate to depict all Filipino-Americans as rabidly anti-choice.

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The Vatican's "F" Word: It's All Feminism's Fault

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

February 4, 2009 - 8:00am (Print)

While visiting Manila-Philippines, Vatican official Paul Josef Cordes declared yesterday that "feminism" is not only eroding manhood but causing "a crisis in fatherhood."

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When Gender Is Not Enough

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

October 18, 2008 - 7:00am (Print)

Women political leaders in the Philippines are nothing new. But examining the close relationship of female Filipino leaders to the Catholic Church reveals that more than gender is required for progressive policies on reproductive health.

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New President, New Foreign Policy Changes Would Improve Women's Lives

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

September 26, 2008 - 3:00am (Print)

A new US presidential administration can revitalize support for UNFPA and reorient USAID, which will go a long way in creating more breathing space for local reproductive health advocacy in the Philippines.

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Condemning Contraceptive Condoms

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

September 19, 2008 - 7:00am (Print)

Despite the Philippine President's lack of support for universal access to contraceptives, an official of the Department of Health recently criticized the Roman Catholic Church's position against condom use.

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Filipino Catholics Speak Up for Reproductive Health

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

August 29, 2008 - 7:00am (Print)

A group of Filipino Catholics calling themselves a part of the "silent majority," broke their silence and came out in support of pending legislation on reproductive health.

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Filipino Catholics Voice Dissent on Contraception and Abortion

by Carolina Austria, RH Reality Check, Asia

July 31, 2008 - 7:00am (Print)

The Catholic Church in the Philippines has always been at loggerheads with proponents of population control, and has clashed with advocates of women's rights and choice. But the local debate now has turned to the basis of Catholic teaching itself.

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