Bill to increase access to reproductive health spends five years in Parliament

PARLIAMENT – A private members’ bill meant to enable most Rwandans access reproductive health care services is gathering dust in the lockers of the Lower Chamber of Deputies after making rounds between the chamber and the Senate for the last five years, The New Times reports.The bill, which was sponsored by a network of parliamentarians on population services and development in the spirit of promoting family planning activities to check on population growth and improve quality of health, was drafted in 2007.The bill, which has so far spent most time doing rounds in the House, seeks to compel government to ensure functioning reproductive health services at every public health facility.If passed into law in its present form, through article 12, it would make it mandatory for every Rwandan, aged at least 18 years, to adopt reproductive health services with a view to improve quality of life.The network is a forum of individual parliamentarians advocating for delivery of improved health services and population control to improve lives.MP Dr Ezekias Rwabuhihi, a former Health minister and a member of the forum, was involved in the drafting of the bill. He says the spirit behind the legislation was to provide a holistic approach to matters of reproductive health.According to the 2010 Rwanda Demographic Health Survey 2010, 48 per cent of women in active reproductive stage were not using family planning methods, citing insufficient information and counselling on family planning and gaps in sexual and reproductive health education in schools, among other things.Other factors pointed out include lack of decision-making power, on the part of women, about the use of family planning and insufficient support and involvement of their male partners.Victoria Akyeapong, the UNFPA Resident Representative, said then that the unmet needs for modern family planning and maternal and newborn health care would reduce maternal deaths by more than two thirds.“The bill makes it a human right for people to access these services,” MP Rwabuhihi told The New Times in an interview.What is a private members bill?Private members’ bills are public draft laws introduced by members of parliament. Like public bills their purpose is to change or initiate a law as it applies to the general population.Even when such bills do not pass into laws, by creating publicity around an issue, they may affect legislation indirectly.A private members bill can be tabled by an individual MP or a group of lawmakers. It must go through the same vetting procedures as the bills introduced by government. However, in most parliaments, less time is allocated to these bills and it’s less likely that they will proceed through all the stages.Article 90 of the constitution vests the right to initiate and amend legislation in each parliamentarian and the executive acting through the cabinet.MP Esperance Mwiza is the chairperson of the Lower House’s committee on social affairs that is examining the bill. She told this newspaper that the bill was brought to her committee when there were other urgent bills to attend to.The bill has featured on the committee’s order paper since October 2011 after it returned from the Senate.“The bill has been on a back-and-forth movement between the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate for some time,” an official speaking on condition of anonymity, because he is not authorised to speak on these matters, told this newspaper in an interview.President Paul Kagame told a recent high-profile international conference on family planning that Rwanda would scale up access to quality family planning services.

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Bill to increase access to reproductive health spends five years in Parliament