ignores the management prerogative inherent in corporations for employers to conduct their
affairs in accordance with their own discretion and judgment.
• The RH Law violates the right to free speech. To compel a person to explain a full
range of family planning methods is plainly to curtail his right to expound only his own
preferred way of family planning. The petitioners note that although exemption is
granted to institutions owned and operated by religious groups, they are still forced
to refer their patients to another healthcare facility willing to perform the service or
procedure.48
• The RH Law intrudes into the zone of privacy of one's family protected by the
Constitution. It is contended that the RH Law providing for mandatory reproductive
health education intrudes upon their constitutional right to raise their children in
accordance with their beliefs.49
It is claimed that, by giving absolute authority to the person who will undergo reproductive
health procedure, the RH Law forsakes any real dialogue between the spouses and impedes
the right of spouses to mutually decide on matters pertaining to the overall well-being of
their family. In the same breath, it is also claimed that the parents of a child who has suffered
a miscarriage are deprived of parental authority to determine whether their child should use
contraceptives.50
• The RH Law violates the constitutional principle of non-delegation of legislative
authority. The petitioners question the delegation by Congress to the FDA of the
power to determine whether a product is non-abortifacient and to be included in the
Emergency Drugs List (EDL).51
• The RH Law violates the one subject/one bill rule provision under Section 26( 1 ),
Article VI of the Constitution.52
• The RH Law violates Natural Law.53
• The RH Law violates the principle of Autonomy of Local Government Units (LGUs)
and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao {ARMM). It is contended that the
RH Law, providing for reproductive health measures at the local government level and
the ARMM, infringes upon the powers devolved to LGUs and the ARMM under the
Local Government Code and R.A . No. 9054.54
Various parties also sought and were granted leave to file their respective comments-inintervention in defense of the constitutionality of the RH Law. Aside from the Office of the
Solicitor General (OSG) which commented on the petitions in behalf of the
respondents,55 Congressman Edcel C. Lagman,56 former officials of the Department of Health
Dr. Esperanza I. Cabral, Jamie Galvez-Tan, and Dr. Alberto G. Romualdez,57 the Filipino
Catholic Voices for Reproductive Health (C4RH),58 Ana Theresa "Risa" Hontiveros,59 and Atty.
Joan De Venecia60 also filed their respective Comments-in-Intervention in conjunction with
several others. On June 4, 2013, Senator Pia Juliana S. Cayetano was also granted leave to
intervene.61