MANILA, Philippines – After years of delay, providing reproductive health (RH) services for mothers and women can no longer wait.

This is what Health Secretary Enrique Ona said in a statement Wednesday, April 30, as his department decided a motion for reconsideration on the struck-down provisions of the RH law is no longer needed.

“We are ready to go. All eyes are waiting for the green light for us to intensify our efforts to save mothers and children,” he added.

The decision comes as select interfaith groups filed a motion for reconsideration on Monday, April 28.

On the same day, former Albay Representative Edcel Lagman and other advocates said in a statement they will go another route and push to amend these provisions through legislation. (READ: ‘Struck-down provisions do not diminish RH law’)

The Supreme Court declared the RH law constitutional last April 8 – more than a year since its implementation was halted, and more than a decade since the controversial law was first debated in Congress. (READ: Lagman: Anti-RH law forces will never stop)

The law requires government health centers to hand out free contraceptives, mandates sex education in schools, and legalizes post-abortion medical care.

The Department of Health had until April 26 to file a motion for reconsideration after it received copies of the SC decision and separate opinions through the Office of the Solicitor General – the department’s legal counsel – last April 11.

Ona said the department now fully understands the nature of the SC decision and its implications on RH law implementation.

“As far as we are concerned, the SC Justices essentially clarified that all government health facilities are still required to provide modern family planning services, and that there are many legal ways to ensure access to RH services even if there are conscientious objectors, among many other clarifications,” he said.

Last Wednesday, April 23, Ona said they are still revising the law’s implementing rules and regulations to “make them consistent with the specific rulings of the SC.”

Advocates believe nothing from the 8 provisions struck down by the SC can prevent the full implementation of the “health, anti-poverty, and human rights” law. (READ: Next in RH battle: Full implementation by DOH, LGUs) – Rappler.com