ARTICLES
April 2001 ARTICLES
Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
Killers and Freeloaders
Proposed Abortion Clinic Sparks Community Protest
By Maggie Garcia
"Just look at where they are building the clinic," said Denise Rigio of Monrovia, referring to the location of the clinic that Planned Parenthood is building in the city of Monrovia. "It's south of Huntington Drive. Everyone knows that every one that lives south of Huntington drive are poor and minority."
Last fall, Planned Parenthood quietly submitted plans to the city of Monrovia for a new clinic near the intersection of Huntington Drive and Myrtle in Monrovia. When community members learned that an abortion clinic was moving into their family-oriented city, nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, they quickly mobilized to challenge Planned Parenthood.
The community members formed an organization called Monrovians Against Planned Parenthood. Because of their thorough research, the group discovered that Planned Parenthood has been occupying for thirty years, rent free, space in a nearby Los Angeles county health building, the Monrovia Health Center. A February 6 letter from Monrovians Against Planned Parenthood to Los Angeles County Health deputy secretary, Sandra Cruz, pointed out that, "according to Barbara Pavee, Assistant to the Director of Operations at the Public Health Office, the county has no record of PP paying rent for use of the facility. They currently pay the county no rent. It is possible, according to Ms. Pavee, that PP has had a 'rent-free' arrangement for as much as the past thirty years, the duration of their tenure at this county facility." The letter then highlighted a section of the California constitution which prohibits non-profits from receiving a "gift of value" from the government. Reacting to the letter, John Schimhoff, the chief of operations of public health, wrote a letter to Beth Calleton, president of the Pasadena chapter of Planned Parenthood, advising her that the letter served "notice to cease utilization of the Monrovia Health Center for all purposes immediately."
Ed Szymkowiak of Virginia-based Stop Planned Parenthood International said that he was pleased that Monrovians to Stop Planned Parenthood are not only trying to stop Planned Parenthood from moving into their community but have caused the county to evict Planned Parenthood from county-run facilities. "I want to congratulate the people in Monrovia for organizing so quickly," said Szymkowiak. "What's very interesting is that they got PP kicked out of a government facility where they have been freeloading."
There have been inappropriate actions on the part of the city as well, said Rosemary Harrahill of Monrovians to Stop Planned Parenthood. Harrahill told me that her group had learned that when Planned Parenthood initially had asked for a zoning variance for their new building, the city failed to determine the occupancy load before issuing the permit.
The opposition to Planned Parenthood coming to Monrovia has been a forceful presence at city council meetings as well. On February 13, after a rousing demonstration in front of the proposed clinic, several community members, including six Carmelite sisters from nearby Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte, packed the city council chambers in order to urge the city council members to rescind Planned Parenthood's permit to operate in the city. "My concerns are this," one man told the council members -- "abortion clinics don't follow standard medical procedures. They do not have informed consent, so when the patients come in they are not told what they would normally be told by a physician ... therefore I'm calling on the council to suspend the license that they have given to Planned Parenthood and, in the meantime, check out their procedures."
Speaker after speaker told the city council members, who sat in stone silence, that Planned Parenthood was not welcome in their community. Another woman who addressed the council expressed her dismay at the council's lack of action with regards to the clinic. "I've grown to love Monrovia as my home and community," she said. "When I heard that Planned Parenthood in Monrovia was expanding to include abortions, I really felt sick at heart. Honestly, my feelings for Monrovia will never be the same if this abortion clinic becomes a reality. Just the thought that abortions are going on while families are enjoying the Friday night festival two blocks away is inconceivable to me. I am well aware that this issue is a political hot potato, from what I heard from our mayor ... nothing can be done and to attempt to do something would open up the city to a lawsuit. It seems to come down in one aspect to money."
Sandy Natale, who also addressed the council, sent a letter to Dr. Laura Schlessinger's radio program on February 27 outlining Planned Parenthood's intention to move into Monrovia. Natale said that Dr. Laura's "office was very supportive and asked us to keep them informed of the progress of the battle. They sent me all of the faxes that they received when Dr. Laura spoke about the clinic on her program." Natale said that Dr. Laura's show received 25 faxes with "suggestions on how we might fight Planned Parenthood, names of attorneys who might help us. It was great."
Natale's letter contained a list of businesses and medical clinics along Huntington Boulevard (a major thoroughfare) in Monrovia that could not provide services to her children without her consent. The places included, she said, "the Westfield Santa Anita Mall, where my children could not get their ears pierced without my permission; the Santa Anita Race Track, where my children would not be allowed to place a bet; the Methodist Hospital -- if one of my children broke an arm, she could not be treated or an x-ray taken without my permission; the medical building across the street, where my children's pediatricians could not listen to their hearts or look into their ears without my permission. In the same building, our dentist could not fill my children's cavities or clean their teeth without my permission ... then we come to the corner of Myrtle and Huntington Drive, the Planned Parenthood clinic, where my children could get an abortion with no counseling."
John O'Neil, president of Monrovians Against Planned Parenthood, told the city council, "our purpose is to peacefully do what we can to get Planned Parenthood out of Monrovia. We hope to accomplish this by following up with Monrovia's political leaders to make sure nothing is overlooked to legally prevent this abortion clinic from coming to our city. City government is understandably nervous about litigation, but it is distressing to me that nothing has been said by city government about the sadness of an abortion clinic coming to our town. Nothing has been said about better planning or review procedures to block this kind of self-serving business. Planned Parenthood may sound benevolent in name, but it is not ... why isn't someone in this city government speaking with bewilderment and outrage?" The council members watched him silently.
One very powerful statement came from Sister Inez, a member of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart who run Santa Teresita hospital whose property straddles both Monrovia and Duarte. "I am here speaking on behalf of the sixty sisters who serve at Santa Teresita hospital," began Sister Inez. "We have been serving the Monrovia/Duarte area for over sixty years. In our service of health care we have done the utmost to maintain the dignity of every human being. We believe in the value of life from the moment of conception to natural death. We have collaborated throughout these sixty years with the cities of Duarte and Monrovia to serve all of the people of these cities and neighboring cities. We have afforded quality health care during these years and have maintained our moral value and esteem for human life at every level ... on behalf of the Carmelite Sisters and of the millions of people whom we have served for over sixty years I would just like to say that we stand aghast at the decision that has been made to open the clinic in our city. It is appalling, given the history of the support of human life and family life that has taken place in Monrovia. So, on behalf of the sisters and of all of the people we serve, on behalf of that little baby that we have in our presence here this evening, I urge to withdraw, to change, to overturn the decision that has been made to open the clinic here in Monrovia."
One young man who serves as the student liaison to the Monrovia City Council, though, told the council that he didn't think that having Planned Parenthood in the city of Monrovia would cause teenagers to become more promiscuous, since there is a clinic in Pasadena "that's just a hop, skip away, ten minutes on the freeway and you can be there." Then-Monrovia mayor Bob Barlett told those gathered, "someone is of the belief that the Monrovia City Council or the Monrovia Planning commission, someone in our building granted permission or made the decision to have this organization come to this city or to allow the building to go forward -- that is not the case. What happened is that someone applied for a building permit in a permitted zone use. What would be entailed if we were to take some executive privilege and say you can't do this, you can't come to Monrovia. The whole use, the medical use on Huntington Drive ...we would no longer be able to have that medical use in any surrounding area... It's not true that the city of Monrovia chose to have someone come to the city."
Not to be deterred, on February 17, Monrovians Against Planned Parenthood held a rally at the Monrovia Library Park. One speaker, former California State Senator Dick Mountjoy (Republican, Arcadia), told the audience that there is hope since "we have a pro-life president," referring to President George W. Bush. He exhorted the crowd to take note that state law prohibits non-profits from receiving public gifts. "We want all back rent for the past 30 years," he told the crowd. Along with the speakers, the rally organizers collected donations of baby items for the San Gabriel Valley Pregnancy Help Center.
J.T. Finn, a long time pro-life activist, summed up the community's feelings by saying, "any community that allows Planned Parenthood to come in will expose children to raunchy sex ed programs and a philosophy that says killing children is acceptable. If we united and speak out against Planned Parenthood we can be successful in driving them back to hell which is where they belong."