ARTICLES
November 2002 ARTICLES
Contents © 2002
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
Why Are We Killing Each Other?
Planned Parenthood Opens Clinic in Boyle Heights
By Maria Elena Kennedy
The grand opening of a new Planned Parenthood clinic in Boyle Heights on Wednesday, October 16, drew an assortment of Latino officials, who hailed Planned Parenthood's entry into the working-class Latino neighborhood. The clinic, located across the street from Hollenbeck Park, will house several Planned Parenthood programs, including their Circulo de Salud, a sex education program for adolescent boys that Planned Parenthood began two and a half years ago, according to literature passed out at the function.
After hearing a talk by two young men who had fathered children out of wedlock as teenagers, keynote speaker, former California assembly speaker and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa said that he was invited to the event because he had been a teenage father. "I'm here because as a young man I also made some bad choices," said Villaraigosa. "Some 27 years ago, I also had two girls, and I took responsibility for them." Villaraigosa was introduced as "a good friend of Planned Parenthood." "We need to do something about the epidemic of teenage pregnancy in our community," he told the mostly Anglo audience. Villaraigosa said that he was a strong supporter of a woman's reproductive rights. "I am a Catholic and I believe that God believes in a woman's right to choose," he told the applauding audience.
One of the young men who spoke at the event, Michael Garcia, said that he was a third-generation gang member who watched his younger brother die in a drive-by shooting. His father had abandoned the family soon after Garcia's birth. By the time he was in junior high, he was selling drugs to help his mother support his four younger siblings.
When Garcia was in his early twenties, his girlfriend gave birth to a daughter, but he admitted to being leery of the responsibilities of fatherhood. Garcia says that the turning point in his life came when Father Gregory Boyle, S.J., offered him a job with Homeboy Industries. He worked as a peer counselor talking to gang members in East Los Angeles about changing their lives. "We all come from the same dirt, we all struggle for the same things, why are we killing each other?" he would ask the young men.
Two years ago, Garcia joined Planned Parenthood as a reproductive health assistant. He works in the Circulo de Salud program. Garcia counsels young Latinos in "everything from human sexuality to gang issues." Garcia says that when "males who sometimes accompany their partners to the center readily open up, I talk to them about the emotional needs of their partners and the issues facing young women."
Los Angeles city attorney, Rocky Delgadillo, was also a featured guest at the event. "I'm a great supporter of Planned Parenthood and of Boyle Heights," he said.
The new clinic will also house Planned Parenthood's Promotoras Communitarias (Community Promoters) program. This program recruits and trains Latinas in birth control methods, abortion counseling and other reproductive health issues. The women in turn go out to the community to teach other women on these topics. One promoter, Sylvia Murillo, who has been with the program for 10 years, told the audience that that the program was a godsend for her. "I thank God for the Promoters program," said Murillo. A mother of five, Murillo said that her four daughters and their boyfriends have all gone through the program. Additionally she takes her youngest son to the classes that she teaches so he can learn to be different from his father. Murillo said that when she first learned about the program, her husband was not happy with it. Initially she did not tell him of her involvement with the Promoters. Murillo said that her husband wanted her to stay at home with their children, but because of the Promoters program, she felt she should continue to work. Murillo admitted that later on, when she would not leave the Promoters program, she and her husband separated.
The sprinkling of Latinos among the mainly Anglo, middle-class, middle-aged audience, were either employees of Planned Parenthood or school employees. Several representatives of Roosevelt High School's Healthy Families were in attendance. A list of politicians who sent their greetings from Sacramento read like a Who's Who of Latino Democrats; Senator Martha Escutia, Assemblywomn Jenny Oropeza, along with a host of others, sent their good wishes.
Ironically, the building which houses the clinic once belonged to the Los Angeles archdiocese, according to a priest who is familiar with the area. "I once tried to get the building for our youth program, but by the time I asked about it, the building had been sold," said the priest. "This was in the early nineties, '90 or '91. I was looking for a place to host some youth activities, so I came to the idea of this building. I called the bishop and he told me that he would call me the following morning. The following day, the bishop called me and said the building had been sold the previous year." The building, said the priest, housed another clinic, affiliated with a mid-Wilshire clinic. About two years ago, said the priest, the clinic closed.
Not all Latinos are happy with Planned Parenthood's presence in the neighborhood. Marcella Melendez of Hispanics for Life said that Planned Parenthood is engaged in harboring child sexual abusers of young girls and has no place in the community. "Life Dynamics [a pro life group in Texas] has uncovered evidence that Planned Parenthood [has evidence of men] who sexually molest girls as young as 13 years of age and does not report this to law enforcement," said Melendez. "This is contrary to state law that mandates that Planned Parenthood turn over men who sexually abuse young girls." (See Mission article, "Completely Confidential," October 2002.)
"Hispanics for Life has successfully begun to establish a grass-roots effort in Boyle Heights against Planned Parenthood," said John O'Neil of Monrovians against Planned Parenthood, who successfully fought Planned Parenthood's establishment of a clinic in his city. "We were successful in that over the course of the past few days we have notified many churches and schools about this clinic going in. The reaction from the people (especially from St. Mary's Catholic Church) was, 'we want to do something about it and stop it.' The community is very receptive and desirous to teach people about Planned Parenthood's real agenda and that is to target the Latino community."
Several protestors, including Melendez and O'Neil, were present at the grand opening, holding signs saying, "Planned Parenthood lies." The most vocal protestor was Margarita Underhill, a Latina lawyer, who is running a write-in campaign for the state assembly against Jenny Oropeza (D-Carson). Standing outside of the event, pregnant with her fifth child, Underhill repeatedly challenged Planned Parenthood and the Latinos who attended the Planned Parenthood function. "You are racists," she shouted at them. "You sold us out, you took a bribe from Planned Parenthood to kill the Latino babies." Underhill shouted at Villaraigosa, in Spanish, "you don't represent us, you are an Oreo cookie. You want to be white; you can't even speak Spanish."
Although several Los Angeles Police department officers stood by, Underhill said that they did not bother her. "I notified them when we got there," said Underhill. "I told them that I am a lawyer and that I am running for the assembly." Underhill managed to disrupt the event several times with her shouting. Event goers tried to ignore her, but it was evident that she was making them uncomfortable.
"I don't like that these Latino elected officials don't represent out values," said Underhill. "They have been bought up by the abortionist and homosexual lobby."
For information on Hispanics for Life, call (310) 839-4197.