Tag: Planned Parenthood

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Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said… (August 13, 2015)

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Bianca Phillips’ cover story, “Transgender in Memphis” …

When my oldest son came out as a transgender female last year, I immediately offered unconditional support to her. We attended the support group at MGLCC together. That is a great place to start. They are an awesome group that is ready to share their experiences. They are ready to listen to you. I am a big Southern, straight, non-trans man, and the people there made us feel at home. My daughter now knows she has support from family, friends, and the people at the group.

Dept. of Redundancy Dept.

Memphis has come a long way! And I, for one, am very happy about that.

Clint

This is a sin and an abomination. God have mercy on your souls. Trans people are dressing that way because they are confused and need help to define their appropriate roles. This nation was founded upon Christian principles.

Screamer15

Screamer15 seems to think he knows more about God’s plan than God does. But that’s okay. Someone who must rely on religious nonsense to hide their fear, hatred, and bigotry is obviously not someone who has any sort of ability for rational thought.

GoProtege

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter From the Editor, “Aborting the Truth” …

I find it fascinating how this new “culture war” crisis popped up as soon as being anti-gay marriage got firmly shut down by the Supreme Court. It is as if the GOP was looking for some new and shiny thing to get their base off of gay marriage and on to some other topic.

Charlie Eppes

In truth, no one “likes” abortion, but birth control not being 100 percent reliable, not all are willing to compromise the lives of their living children or those they hope to have in continuing a pregnancy that would capsize their lives. Thank you for speaking up.

Elizabeth Hinds Davis

If there is no smoking gun, why all the invective against an investigation? PP may be the most wonderfully altruistic organization on earth, but as long as my tax money is used to subsidize their activities, I think I have a right to find out what is going on with these body parts.

Arlington Pop

To me, the use of fetal tissue is no different than using donated organs. I’m an organ donor, because, the way I see it, when I’m dead and gone, my body is no longer of value to me, so whatever good can come of using the remaining parts is the best thing to do with it.

If you have an abortion and allow the aborted fetus or tissue to be used for research, why is that a bad practice? I fully understand those who are against abortion, but if it happens, why would you not want the tissue to be used for something positive if possible?

GroveReb84

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it interesting that there is an entire class of people who proudly display their “pro-life” bona fides, while simultaneously enacting and supporting policies that make actual living problematic?

Jrgolden

About Bruce S. Newman’s Viewpoint, “Pay the Band” …

On behalf of musicians and songwriters, I sincerely thank you, Bruce Newman.

Nighthawk

Correction: An image in last week’s calendar was misidentified. The caption should have read “Work by Nathan Yoakum at Jay Etkin Gallery.”

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News News Feature

What Happens Next?

If women have no access to abortion in Tennessee, what happens next?

What happens to women, pregnant as the result of rape, who don’t want to carry the trauma inside them for nine months? What happens to women who simply can’t afford another child – financially or emotionally?

Those who back the first constitutional amendment on the November 4th ballot do not want you to consider what happens next.

If Amendment 1 passes, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature will enact enough abortion restrictions to make Roe v. Wade meaningless.

Whether it’s mandatory waiting periods or medically unnecessary hurdles for a procedure with a lower rate of complications than a colonoscopy, draconian measures adopted in other states would surely find a home here.

“If this passes, it opens the floodgates,” said Allison Glass, state director of Healthy and Free Tennessee, which promotes reproductive rights.

The fight over Amendment 1 exposes the hypocrisy of pro-fetus, anti-child conservatives who bark for smaller, less intrusive government while maneuvering their way into women’s personal affairs.

What the legislature won’t do is abandon a foolhardy commitment to abstinence-only sex ed in public schools, find money for universal pre-K, or persuade Governor Bill Haslam to save more than 800 lives annually by accepting federal money to expand Medicaid.

Here’s what the proposed amendment says: “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or require the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”

You read that right. The decision to outlaw abortion even in the stomach-churning case of incest would be left in the hands of state legislators, 83 percent of whom are men.

That prospect worries Rebecca Terrell, executive director of the reproductive health center, Choices. Terrell spends a good bit of her time these days debunking “Yes on 1’s” talking points, which include the fact that 25 percent of abortions in Tennessee are performed on women who live out of state. 

In Mississippi, which has just one abortion provider, 2 percent of abortions were obtained by women who live out of state. The reason why women come to Tennessee to get an abortion is no different than the reason why children with cancer come from around the globe to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“They say it’s an abortion destination,” Terrell said. “It’s really a health-care destination.”

On Saturday, Terrell was among 200 people gathered in First Presbyterian Church’s parking lot for what was billed as a get out the vote rally, complete with a bounce house for kids and toe-tapping music. At a break in the music, “No on 1” field director Gail Tyree took to the stage and led the crowd in a call-and-response.

“All you need to know,” she yelled. “No on 1!” the crowd yelled back.

More energy, money (nearly $2 million raised so far), and national attention have been directed at the Amendment 1 battle than at any other constitutional amendment in recent history. Terrell and others are trying to be sure they stay on the right side of the line that prohibits 501(c)3s from lobbying.

A healthy roster of Christian ministers and other faith leaders, both white and black, are firmly in the “No on 1” camp.

“As people of faith, we are and should be concerned about the impact of any legislation that might limit access to basic needs for survival for people who are already at risk,” said Rev. Faye London, interfaith coordinator for SisterReach, a reproductive rights organization. “As I’ve traveled across the state, most of the clergy I’ve encountered, whether they’ve been able to say it out loud or not, feel the same way.”

London is careful not to directly advocate against Amendment 1, but is frank about the high stakes. Access to abortion, she says, is a basic need. “The ability to build the life that is going to be healthiest for you and your family is a basic need.”

A May poll by Vanderbilt University found that 71 percent of voters opposed giving the state legislature authority to regulate abortions.

A No vote on Amendment 1 gives women facing an unintended pregnancy, not legislators, the right to decide what happens next.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Q and A with Ed Roberson, Christ Community Health Services CEO

CREDIT: Jackson Baker

Christ Community Health Services (CCHS), which focuses on the “underserved” populations of Memphis and Shelby County, will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next year. CCHS maintains seven brick-and-mortar medical clinics, a mobile unit, and a dental clinic. On the strength of a new federal grant of $407,000 and a donor campaign, CCHS is planning some major expansion.

CCHS has also been the beneficiary since 2011 of a federal contract to provide Title X medical services to women. The Title X contract had traditionally been awarded to Planned Parenthood but was rebid as a result of new policies pushed by Tennessee’s Republican-dominated state government. Amid a good deal of controversy, the CCHS contract — amounting to $400,000 annually — was approved by Shelby County government.

Jackson Baker

Ed Roberson

Roberson, a veteran accountant and retired business executive, was recruited earlier this year by the CCHS board to serve as interim CEO after some 30 physicians and the then-CEO, Dr. Rick Donlon, announced their intentions to resign in protest of unspecified “ill-advised and poorly executed decisions” by the organization’s board. Roberson’s appointment was made official and permanent on August 28th. — Jackson Baker

Flyer: What was the mass resignation all about, and what were the “ill-advised” decisions?

Ed Roberson: This was all before I came on. We were cutting expenses; indeed, we had already cut them at the time the doctors announced their departure. There had been cuts in salaries and cuts in positions. Layoffs, you would say. There was also the matter of governance. They had a problem with the board. I think, however, we’ve dealt with most of their concerns. We’re going to take some steps and change some bylaws, including providers and staff people on board committees and in governance.

CCHS had been running deficits. Considering your financial background, was that a major reason for your hiring?

I don’t want to disparage any of my predecessors, but probably. There was a deficit of several million dollars the year before this one, resulting from a huge write-off we had to take because of bad debts. We don’t have the audit financials out yet, but it looks like we’re going to be in the black for the year ending in June 2014. We had been largely dependent on government-based funding, but we’ve now begun actively seeking grants and donations from individuals and foundations.

What is your staffing situation? The disaffected doctors gave 180-day notice back in May. Have you convinced any of them to stay on? And what’s the curve on services?

To date, not any of them have changed their minds, but there still could be some. We have six agencies helping us with recruiting. We’ll have enough physicians to handle our patient load. And we’re looking at expanding, putting in a new facility on Third Street, and possibly another new clinic. We’re going to increase our service level, particularly in the area of behavioral [mental] health. We intend to have a psychiatrist or psychologist at every clinic, up from just one now overall.

Former County Commissioner Steve Mulroy voted for your Title X contract in 2011 but tried to get the contract rebid this year. He said CCHS “saw 1,471 patients in all 12 months of its second year of receiving Title X funds, whereas Planned Parenthood saw 1,488 patients in the three final months of its funding.”

He’s a good man, but those numbers are incorrect. [He consults with communications adviser Cris Stovall, who contends that the comparative numbers used by Mulroy actually measured a January-June period for CCHS, not a complete year.]

There is the issue of abortion, which was at the heart of the Title X controversy. How do you deal with abortion requests?

We’re a Christian organization; so we don’t perform abortions because of that. We advise patients that we’ve got precepts that we follow. If we’re asked about it, we can advise them about other clinics. If asked about Planned Parenthood, we will tell them where they’re located. If you’ve got a Christian provider, and a lady wants to get an abortion, he or she is probably going to counsel them that abortion’s not the right way to go

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News The Fly-By

Amendment to Tennessee Constitution Threatens Abortion Access

If an amendment to the Tennessee Constitution is approved by voters in November, state legislators will have the ability to pass all manner of restrictions on abortion.

“They’ll be able to pass a whole slew of regulations here, the same kind of regulations that are closing clinics all over the country,” said Rebecca Terrell, executive director of Choices Memphis Center for Reproductive Health.

Those include 72-hour waiting periods between the initial doctor consultation and the procedure, mandated counseling that opponents of the amendment fear may include misleading information about abortion risks, and requiring that all second trimester abortions be performed in a hospital, among others.

“It’s not a change in law. It’s an amendment to our constitution. The language is flawed and dangerous and gives carte blanche to the legislature to ban abortion, even when a woman’s health is in danger or if she is a victim of rape or incest,” said Ashley Coffield, executive director of Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region, which launched a “Vote No on 1” campaign last week.

In 2000, the Tennessee Supreme Court found that a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion is part of a “fundamental right to privacy,” making privacy rights in the state broader than those provided in Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that ruled that 14th Amendment privacy protections extended to a woman’s decision to have an abortion.

Because those privacy protections were found to be broader in Tennessee, that 2000 court decision meant several restrictions passed by the General Assembly in 1998, such as the aforementioned waiting periods and counseling, were unconstitutional. Now, if Amendment 1 passes in November, the legislature will have the ability to bring back those restrictions overturned by the court in 2000.

In the states surrounding Tennessee, similar regulations have closed many abortion clinics and patients from other states must travel to Tennessee for the procedure.

The proponents of changing the constitution to allow for abortion restrictions have launched an aggressive “Vote Yes on 1” campaign, and they’re claiming Tennessee is the third most popular “destination for out-of-state abortions.”

“Mississippi has one clinic, and they’re trying to close that. Half the clinics in Louisiana are closing. Texas went from 64 clinics to six. Where are people supposed to go? The fact that we’re still up and running and seeing patients in Tennessee drives them crazy,” Terrell said.

Coffield says that even pro-lifers should be against changing the state constitution to limit privacy rights.

“Not all of us agree about abortion, but I think we can agree that we can’t stand in another woman’s shoes and make a difficult decision for her when she may be faced with a cancer diagnosis or a rape or an incest,” Coffield said.

To fight the passage of Amendment 1, Planned Parenthood has hired a full-time community organizer in AFSCME Director Gail Tyree. She is organizing 13 community action teams to canvas and phone-bank for the “Vote No on 1” campaign prior to the November election.

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News The Fly-By

“The numbers don’t lie. Thousands fewer low-income women are getting the family planning services they need. We need to take a second look at this.”

— Shelby County Commissioner Steve Mulroy on the issue of Christ Community Health Services (CCHS) serving fewer women than Planned Parenthood did when it held the county’s contract for federal Title X funding. Mulroy co-sponsored a resolution to not renew CCHS’ contract that failed in the Shelby County Commission this week. He was one of the commissioners who voted in favor of CCHS getting the Title X contract in 2011, but now he says CCHS hasn’t held up its end of the bargain. County Health Department numbers show that CCHS saw 1,471 patients in all 12 months of its second year of receiving Title X funds whereas Planned Parenthood saw 1,488 patients in the three final months of its funding. Mulroy has vowed to keep fighting.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Fly On The Wall

Verbatim

“Everybody wants to know, ‘Well, why do you drink? Why do you do this?’ You know, I can’t say it’s because of him, but it’s because of him I have done these things.” — City Councilwoman Janis Fullilove in the midst of an apparent breakdown on her WDIA radio show. The “him” in question isn’t Mayor Wharton or Councilman Shea Flinn but her husband Vernon Chalmers, who, according to Fullilove, has threatened to kill her. Fullilove and Chalmers have a turbulent history that reached an apogee in 2012 when both were arrested during a spat that involved the throwing of dishes.

Mighty Big If

One occurrence is a typo; six is a pattern. An email from Shelby County Commissioner Terry Roland circulated among grammar nerds last week.

“Please be advised that it ‘appears’ the Shelby County Ethic’s Ordinance does not comply with State Law,” or so Roland “says.”

The easy joke would be to ask, “Who is this Ethic and why is his Ordinance so important?” But I’m more interested in the appearance of the much talked about but seldom seen “Mighty Big If.” See for yourself.

Rubber Hits Road

“A condom is not an explicit image. It’s just a piece of latex, and children see explicit images all the time on the Internet, in commercials, and in the movies,” Planned Parenthood Memphis CEO Ashley Coffield told WREG after allegedly shocked parents complained about a billboard advertising free condoms. Considering there’s “male sexual medicine” on display at an area convenience store, she’s got a point. And the high ground.  

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Opinion

Sex Education, Abortion, Puberty, and Saturday Mornings

sex-education-1.jpg

When the issue is sex education in school, there are at least three groups: abstinence education, birth control education on the assumption that teen sex happens, and a third group that prefers to deal with the subject at home.

All three came to mind Saturday when I drove to the Memphis Board of Education for a parents and staff meeting on sex ed or family life curriculum as it is also called. The target audience was parents, and the letter to them on the handout table began thus:

“Your child is about to begin, or may have already begun, a period of rapid growth called puberty.”

It continued, “By teaching children about the wonderful ways they are maturing, adults can promote a positive attitude toward sexuality that helps children grown into healthy, responsible adults.”

Puberty was not much on my mind on this beautiful October morning, possibly because my children are, thank goodness, well past it. But I expected to see at least a modestly energetic turnout of parents at a meeting to explain the new “opt in” as opposed to the old “opt out” policy for students entering those wonderful years of hair, breasts, zits, muscles, Tampax, and dirty jokes among other things. Instead, there was no crowd at all, unless you count the handful of presenters and MCS staff.

There was however, a turnout of about 40-50 people outside the Planned Parenthood office on Poplar Avenue near East Parkway that I drove past on my way to the meeting. They were mostly students from St. Benedict High School carrying anti-abortion signs. Their sponsor, Sharon Masterson, said they were members of Teens For Life and “October is the month when we focus on right-to-life issues.”

At the meeting, Planned Parenthood representative Barry Chase told me opt-in, opt-out “is my personal big issue.” The Society for Sex Education, he said, “says the opt-in policy presents a barrier that opt-out does not.”

“We have a real problem with parental participation,” Chase said. “Why require more of it when you don’t have enough now?”

Witness, he said, the tiny turnout.

Cassandra Turner, speaking for MCS on the issue, said the non-turnout was not surprising considering that it was a beautiful Saturday morning with lots of other things going on.

“We want the parents involved,” she said. “But parents feel more comfortable in their school.”

She said opt-in as opposed to opt-out is “only a big deal to people who don’t have faith in parents.”

The so-called Michigan Model Family Life Curriculum has been adopted by MCS as part of its curriculum in grades 4-9. It will, according to the handout, “promote appreciation and respect for the amazing changes experienced by self and others” as well as “equip children with the skills they need to postpone sexual intercourse.”

I was educated in public schools in Michigan long before AIDS and oral sex and Roe v. Wade entered the national vocabulary. As I remember the Michigan model in that era, in sixth-grade the boys were herded into one classroom and the girls another for separate sessions with gym coaches that proved to be disappointing on the sex front as far as pictures, stories, and specific information. I can’t speak for the girls, of course.

As a parent, I wound up in the libertarian, we-will-take-care-of-this-at-home camp. I recall my MCS-educated children taking a Health class they considered an immense bore some time around ninth grade. A woman promoting abstinence came to a PTA meeting and told her personal story of unwanted pregnancy and later enlightenment, which was later shared with students, possibly on an opt-in basis but I can’t say for sure.

Faced with writing an essay on, say, condoms as homework and sharing it with my parents, I would have felt strange as either a student or a parent. But that is the new world in which we live. I am well aware of the personal and social costs of unwanted pregnancy and am a strong proponent of family planning, etc. But it’s Saturday. Now I am going into the other room to watch football.

Categories
News

AIDS Memorial Quilt To Be Displayed

A portion of the massive AIDS Memorial Quilt will make a one-day appearance in Memphis on Saturday, December 1st in honor of World AIDS Day.

Twenty twelve-foot-by-twelve-foot blocks from the colorful quilt will be shown at Rhodes College. Established in 1987, the NAMES project Foundation designed the 50-ton quilt. Over 40,000 blocks memorialize someone who has died from AIDS.

Blocks contain items that once belonged to victims, such as car keys, motorcycle jackets, love letters, flip-flops, merit badges, stuffed animals, and wedding rings.

Information booths and free HIV testing stations will be set up from noon to 4 p.m. at the event.

Also, Planned Parenthood of the Greater Memphis Region will offer free HIV testing at the Orange Mound Community Center on Friday, November 30th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more on the quilt, go here.

Or for more on World AIDS Day, go here.