Philippine E-Journals

Social Representations of the Reproductive Health Bill

Mendiola Teng-calleja

Discipline: Health, Social Studies

 

Abstract:

To investigate the social representations of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, this research examined newspaper articles that captured the intense public debate on the legislation of the Bill. A survey was also conducted among 57 members of both pro and anti RH Bill groups. Content analysis and discriminant procedures showed that the discourse on the RH Bill primarily wove a contested story about contraception. The debate on sex education and poverty was found to be secondary. Results further showed that the social meaning of the RH Bill as expressed in media was strikingly consistent with the collective thinking of people belonging to the pro and anti RH Bill groups. The implications of these findings are discussed.