Advocates of the RH Bill have a reason to rejoice today as the House of Representatives has just approved the bill on its second reading at 2:00 a.m. earlier this morning.

According to an article on ABS-CBNNews.com, a viva voce voting was first conducted, followed by nominal voting to confirm the votes.

The whole process took more than five hours because the representatives who wished to explain their vote were given time to do so. 217 out of 297 members of the House were present to vote, and by the end of the session, the numbers read 113-104 in favor of the RH Bill, with three lawmakers preferring to abstain.

This development can be considered as a victory for the RH Bill, which has been stuck in Congress for 14 years. The bill is scheduled for a third reading on December 17. The Senate is also set to put the bill to a vote for its second reading on the same day.

The RH Bill seeks to give everyone more access to reproductive health assistance and information, but because of its section on contraceptives, has met with a lot of resistance from many conservative groups.

“I do not believe that we will become promiscuous or immoral because of the RH Bill. Every woman needs access to basic health services, information on reproductive health,” Aambis-OWA Partylist Representative Sharon Garin was quoted by Inquirer.net as saying.

(Photo by walknboston via Flickr Creative Commons)