Trust Filipinas to make wise choice on RH, says CNN hero

Robin Lim. AP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino women should be trusted to make “wise choices” on their reproductive health and their families’, 2011 CNN Hero of the Year Fil-American Robin Lim said Wednesday.

With 981 women dying every day around the world from complications in pregnancies and childbirth, Lim called for support for women “to make wise choices within their culture.”

“We really need to give women their own choices; we need to trust women to make wise choices for themselves or their families,” she told reporters as senators debated the Reproductive Health bill. “And again, there is a war going over the Reproductive Health bill and whenever there’s a war, there are victims. When people fight there are victims and the victims here are women and babies.”

As a midwife, Lim said she hoped to see women “choosing to be pregnant or not to be pregnant” and surviving their pregnancies if they choose to do so, regardless of their faith.

“But it is up to our lawmakers to support them in those choices. It is human right; health care is a human right,” she said.

It’s about time Filipinos stopped the bickering and banded together “to come up with a reproductive health plan that works for everyone,” Lim said. “I don’t think anyone wants mothers or babies to die so let’s ask everyone on both sides to join hands in peace.”

The Senate read a resolution commending Lim, a certified professional midwife, for the recognition she got from the CNN in December 2011 for helping thousands of women have healthy pregnancies and safe births through her nonprofit, Indonesia-based maternal health clinic.

The resolution, introduced by Sen. Pia Cayetano, said Lim was an inspiration to Filipinos and a “shining example to each of us.”

“Lim’s selfless service and goodness of heart has earned her the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year award, bringing honor and recognition to the Philippines, given her Filipino ancestry,” it said. “Lim is also bringing miracles to the lives of countless women through her prenatal and childbirth clinics in the cities of Baguio and Quezon.”

Lim, born of a Filipino-Chinese mother and an American father, said she felt honored by the commendation.

Since 2003, she and her team have aided thousands of poor women undergo a healthy birthing experience in Indonesia. She founded birthing clinics in Aceh and the island of Bali, through her foundation Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth Foundation), providing free prenatal care, labor and birth support, postpartum care, breastfeeding education, and general health services.

Lim lived in Baguio for a time, learning the benefits of traditional medicine and healing practices from her maternal grandmother. After her youngest sister and her sister’s baby died from pregnancy complications, she became a professional midwife and moved to Bali with her husband William Hemmerle.

“Lim’s offer of medical assistance to pregnant women from her home grew to a personal mission and commitment to give every poor woman the same chance of surviving childbirth by providing access to free and quality prenatal care and birthing services,” the resolution said.