health

Groups spar over bill

Advocates and opponents of the controversial bill to establish sexual and reproductive health education clashed yesterday during the first legislative debate over the issue, but failed to get to the bottom of the issue.

Some 20 of the 383 organizations that registered to participate were allowed to the first debate, which was directed by the health sub-committee of the National Assembly, a group formed for the purpose of discussing the bill.

Rupert Neblett, secretary of the Alianza Evangélica de Panamá, requested that the document be returned to the Ministry of Health so as to achieve a “serious and not politically driven” dialogue. Neblett’s group are among the many opponents of the bill, which they believe would “undermine” a parents’ rights to determine what their children are taught about sexual and reproductive health.

Teresita de Arias, of the Alianza de Mujeres, disagreed, saying that the bill would not infringe on parents’ rights, and in fact, would guarantee them.

According to Arias, a former Assembly member, the bill’s principal opponents are conservative groups who would prefer that the country not touch on this sensitive issue, much less legislate on it.

The debate will continue following the national holiday break during the first week of November.