 My name is Cynthia Lee Sinclair and this is Finding Respect in the Chaos. I'm here without any guests today because we're going to talk about something that's really important that's happening here in Honolulu and across the whole country, as a matter of fact. We're going to talk about what's happening to Planned Parenthood. I should say the assault that is happening on Planned Parenthood across the country. We now have five states that have decided on their own to go against Roe v. Wade and put in place their own state sanctions and restrictions on the ability for people to access good healthcare. This isn't just about abortion and that's the part that's so frustrating for so many people. We will hear different accounts from different people throughout this show today that's going to talk about just exactly what's going on with Planned Parenthood. Just exactly what percentage of their services entitles abortion and how much of it entitles women's healthcare and how important it is for people to have access to that kind of affordable healthcare. People with no insurance can walk into Planned Parenthood and get the services that they need. What's going to happen when it's gone? What's going to happen to those people? We know that in Alabama, right now, one of the perfect examples of how wrong these kind of laws can go, there's a woman who's about to stand trial for murder because she got in an argument with another woman over the daddy for the baby that was inside her. She was five months pregnant. She ended up getting shot by the other girl and it killed the baby. Well now, because she's the one who initiated the argument, she is on trial, going to go on trial for murder. Now you tell me, how screwed up is that? In my mind, that is a perfect example of how twisted and wrong these kind of restrictions can go. I have the perfect, perfect solution for ending abortion. Every man at the age of sexual activity once he is sexually active is required to get a vasectomy. It's easily done and it's easily reversed when he decides he wants to have children. No side effects, no horrible blood clots and sterility factors involved. It's the man's job now, or should be anyway, but men don't want to hear that. You know, it's being sort of circulated as a funny meme on Facebook, but if you ask me, it's not funny. If you ask me, that's the solution. Why is it women's problem? Why is it women's responsibility when we have to go through so many things involved with contraception, all of which carry a big bunch of dangerous side effects? Vasectomies? There's no side effects. And really there's very, very little margin for error that can't be restored when they decide they want to have children. Now a woman can have one child in a year, one. No matter how many times she has sex, she can only have one baby per year. Now a man, he can go out there and make hundreds of babies in a year. Now you tell me, whose responsibility should this be? As a woman, I'm really tired of it being our job, and I think that the men should get involved. There is a pill already out there right now, but there's lots of side effects, and men don't want to take the chance. Back to Planned Parenthood. The one place where safely women can go and get the services that they need, and it's being ripped from us. It's not right. I'm going to show a few videos here that's going to talk a little bit more about the history of Planned Parenthood, how it got started, and just exactly how things have changed over the years. And then we're going to talk a little bit about what's happening with our Planned Parenthood that just opened here in Honolulu. If we could see one of those videos and get it started, that'd be great. Planned Parenthood was founded over 100 years ago on the revolutionary idea that women have the right to access the information and care that they need to live healthy lives. And today the Planned Parenthood Action Fund fights to protect that right, often in the face of extreme politicians trying to take it away. It remains that reproductive health and rights are under attack like never before. And the Trump administration's ongoing efforts to undermine and reverse Roe v. Wade and systematically deprive women of their right to choose are aggressive and relentless. They are aggressive and relentless. It's an important part to remember. The things that are happening in our politics, politics, why is a woman's health anywhere involved in politics? That's our bodies. That's our health. That is our own sacred right that's being ripped away from us because we live in a patriarchal society and men think that all the responsibility should lay on us. We've got another clip that talks a little bit more about Planned Parenthood. If you'd roll that clip now, that'd be great. Planned Parenthood is 100 years old this year and 50 years old here in Hawaii. What was the initial mission on it and how has that changed, if at all? Well, Margaret Sanger and her colleagues smuggled diaphragms into New York City 100 years ago. Against the law? Yes. Absolutely against the law. In pickle vats. They labeled them pickles. I love the story. I know, so that nobody would know what was in there and it was illegal to use them as illegal to sell them, as illegal to educate about them and talk about them. So good many women, middle and upper class women interestingly, went to jail to prove the concept that women really needed to be able to do this and it was not obscenity that it was actually part of the mainstream and thanks to all the supporters of Planned Parenthood over the many, many decades now using contraception has become incredibly normative. It's part of the Affordable Care Act. All the insurance policies include it now and it's seen as part of what creates a healthy society. We've worked about three years ago and of course, being an old time board member from the Hawaii board, there's always some trepidation and some territorial protection, cultural competition issues. Any merger has that. But I would say it's been so positive in every way and the main thing is that you want to deliver the best possible healthcare services to your patients and we're really headed in that direction and it's economies of scale in terms of converting over to electronic medical records when you've got four states sharing and all in one system, implementation and maintenance is so much more central. So things have changed. Absolutely. We have a wonderful education program where folks in Planned Parenthood in Hawaii are available to go out to schools and provide information on reproductive health and in fact there's no constraint about that. No. There's no separation from the educational side. People are invited. People are invited by schools. So it's up to the schools to invite and this program actually won the Apple Award which is a significant education award. Except for Apple. We wish. It's an educational award within Planned Parenthood and so we're very proud of this really. That's just a little piece of the history that we're looking at. A hundred years ago, can you imagine smuggling diet frams into New York City? Wow. What a difference, right? What a difference things are nowadays and now here in Hawaii we've just opened up a brand new facility and I know that Dayton, Kavarn and Marjorie Owl came on one of my shows a few months back just before the grand opening and I've got a little clip of them talking about the new facility and what's all involved with it. We can show that clip. That'd be great. So anyway, so she said, well, she's going to look for some property because Elyse was coming up and we just can't continue to exist in that space because it's too small and of course Elyse was going up too and so she said, you know, I have never regretted buying a piece of real estate. So she said, I'm going to do it and then all of a sudden she said, we've closed. We own it now. Wow. That's so exciting and that's Christine Charbonneau, right? Exactly. Okay. Our fearless leader. Our braven fearless leader. That's wonderful. Then the next step of course is to improve it. It had already been a medical clinic, this front clinic for many, many years and it already had small examining rooms and a lot various sinks and, you know, support staff but she says, no, we're going to start all over again. We're going to do it right. So it will last another 50 years. Lasting another 50 years is exactly what we want. The assault on women's health and women's right to choose is unbelievably crazy sometimes when I think about it. When I think about the closed-minded ignorance involved in some of the things that are going on as far as protesters seeing that the right to life, they don't want anything to do with the babies once they're born. They don't want anything to do with the fact that these people, even if they've been raped or they're pregnant because of incest, they think that that girl should go ahead and have that baby. They don't even think about the fact that it's going to be traumatic for her. They think it would be more traumatic to have the abortion. They're wrong. They're dead wrong. And I know this because I am a rape victim that had an abortion. I couldn't handle that. It was more than I could handle. This is a long, long time ago when I was very young. And now I work with victims of incest and I work with rape victims. And I know the kind of trauma that they have to endure. They don't just randomly say, oh, well, I think I'll just get rid of this child. No big deal. They really pray about it. They really think about it. They really talk about it. Planned Parenthood has an amazing program of counseling and therapy both before and after. You can't just walk in, get an abortion, and you're done. Planned Parenthood cuts you loose. That's not how it works. They explain all of your options very clearly in a safe, healthy, respectful environment. They respect the right to choose. I know girls that can handle it. They go on to have their child, raise their child, love their child. And it doesn't affect them. But that's not everybody. It's not even the norm. The people that do end up keeping their child under extreme situations often end up committing suicide because they cannot handle looking at the face of their abuser. If they're raped and their rapist goes to prison, guess what? Their rapist has rights to that child, and now that victim is attached to that rapist for the rest of their life. How can that be right? It's not right. I have problems with people who think that they are so self-righteous that it is okay for them to judge other people. There's a group that come down to Planned Parenthood. I don't know. Every time I drive by, they're there here in Honolulu, and it just irritates me when I see them. I have some clips of those guys down there. They're obnoxious. I have some clips. When I got there, I said, hey, I'm doing a story on Planned Parenthood. Do you guys mind if I get you on camera and ask you some questions? They all came running with their signs eager to tell me what they think. Let's show some of those clips now, okay? There's other reasons why they think the police see it, but I have information here. The risk that they have, the one they can cause, cervical cancer, breast cancer, young girls don't know and Planned Parenthood don't tell them. Are you guys affiliated with the local church? It doesn't matter. I can't really hear you. I'm sorry. Can you speak up, please? Sounds like a loaded question to me. Can you speak the truth? Yeah. This is about Planned Parenthood, the Negro project, the pill, contraceptives, they should ... So can you explain why you're against contraceptives? Because it disrupts the natural process of procreation. So this is all about procreation then? It interferes with the women. Well, yeah, I mean if you're blocking contraception and abortions, pardon me? You can stop people from getting AIDS, you still can get AIDS but contraceptive. Yes you can. You need condoms. There's natural ways in order to get better options. Well, Planned Parenthood don't tell them that. It'll tell the young girls that. They just said, take the pills. Have sex. No, that's not what they say. Dude. Sorry, but that's not what they say. Go at it. Sexualizing children too. What? Yeah. Sex education is sexualizing children. So you don't believe in sex education in the schools either? Not their way. There's other ways. You want information on that? But Planned Parenthood isn't normally the one who does sex education in the schools. Yeah, they teach anal sex. They teach anal sex. And they said homosexuals is normal. That's their way. That's the pattern of sex education. So you're also against all equality for marriage and all of that sort of stuff too then? Yeah, oh yeah. I'm for God. If he's against that, I'm against that. They're pretty opinionated, wouldn't you say? And they all think they know. Planned Parenthood doesn't tell you that. Yes, Planned Parenthood does. So they're out there with misinformation. While I was there filming them, there was a couple that came out of the door and saw them, turned around and went back in again. They don't want to be anywhere near these people. A little bit later, I guess the man of the couple needed to leave so he comes out and walks by and one of the guys, the guy that was in the red shirt, chases him down. Oh, here, here, you've got to take this leaflet. And you can hear the guy saying, no, no, you already gave me one. They're harassing people as they walk in the door. Now these are people that are already having enough problems and trouble and trauma from having to walk through the door to begin with. And then they've got to deal with this. In my mind, there should be a law. That those people have to stay a certain distance away from the door so that people can actually access the building without being harassed by these people. And they want to wave their signs. They want to believe what they want to believe. That's one thing. But to harass people, that's a whole other thing altogether. Now I don't know if you noticed while we were watching that video, but when I asked them what church are you guys from, they didn't want to tell me. Why? Are they ashamed of their church? I'm a very proud United Methodist. I'd be happy to tell you, that's where I'm from. These guys, no, no, is it because what? They're afraid we might realize the hypocrisy of what they're doing? The one man, the older man in the hat. I've seen him there before. He already told me that he's from the Catholic church. I'm pretty sure, not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure that all of those people are Catholics. In my mind, they should all be home trying to clean their own house before they try to tell other people what to do. With the absolute rampant statistics involved in child abuse and the Catholic church, these people have no business out there trying to tell someone else what to do. Now, I'm not saying I have anything against Catholics, but I do believe they should be trying to clean up their own house before they tell other people what to do. I know I get a little worked up about all this, and it's because I feel strongly about it. It's because the hypocrisy involved with what's going on in the Catholic church for them to even spend five seconds doing anything else but treating the people that are victims of the child abuse rampant, excuse me, child abuse that goes on in that church. That man in the hat, when I found out he was a Catholic, when I said this to him, he said, well, I know because I've had a family member that was abused. And still, he's out there. And I think, why aren't you doing something about the people that have been abused, especially if you've got someone in your family dealing with that? I don't understand it. I call it arrogance. And you know, I don't think that's what God wants us to be. There's a very precious scripture to me, and it's this. Judge not, lest the measure you give be the measure you get. Now these Catholics, I don't know, they better be careful because they are not giving anybody any measure. I need to take a big deep breath after I think about these guys. The next little clip that I'd like to show you guys is a little bit of hope. Let's go in the opposite direction. Let's look forward to where we can go. Let's look forward to the fact that we are so incredibly fortunate to live here in Hawaii, where the law is on our side, where our local politicians are on our side. Well, on the side of women, when I say our side, I mean on the side of women's right to choose, a woman's right to have complete autonomy over her own body and not have anyone that can tell her what she can and cannot do with it. So, we have another little video clip here, and it was taken at the opening, the grand opening of the new Planned Parenthood. If you'd show that next clip, that'd be great. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest in the Hawaiian Islands and campaign co-chairs Marjorie Owl, Dr. Thomas Kosasa, Ray St. Chu, and Richard Turbin celebrated the opening of their new State of the Art Health Center on February 23rd, and Think Tech was there. We heard the comments by Planned Parenthood's officials and walked the floor to talk with the people who were there. I'm doing a guest appearance as Lieutenant Governor. I remember my days fondly being a Think Tech host, and I'm here with Jennifer Allen from Planned Parenthood. Jennifer, introduce yourself. Hi, everyone. Jennifer Allen, I am the CEO of Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest in Hawaii. We are the part of Planned Parenthood that does advocacy and political work so that everyone can access the health care they need. Jennifer, can you tell us about the breadth of your job? Are you in this state and many others? How does that work? Yeah, I am actually in this state and many others. We are very happy and privileged to be able to work with our friends in Hawaii here. We also work in Washington, Alaska, and Idaho. What is your message to the people of the city and county on the issue of Planned Parenthood? The message is that we welcome them, that we invite this organization here to help all of us, help all women and men to be better in their everyday lives. And what is your message to the Supreme Court on the legal issues surrounding Planned Parenthood? Leave Roe v. Wade alone. It's an excellent decision that Justice Brennan wrote. It should stand. It stood the test of time. Let's not reverse course and go back to the 1950s. Boy, out of the lips of our mayor, let's not go back to the 1950s. This is 2019, for goodness sakes. There's no excuse for going backwards. Unfortunately, our president has given license to these people who are stuck in the 1950s or the 1970s, which is when Boe v. Wade came about. 2019, let's stay here in the present. I reach out to you out there. Get involved. Stand up to the naysayers. Make your voice heard. Don't give them license to continue the assault on women's health and women's autonomy. It's time for women to stand up and say, no more. Here and no further. I've got one last clip from Dayton and Ray St. Chew when they were on my show a few months ago, and I'd like to end with that clip. It's a fantastic message to the community that we care about you. Please come and see us. I do think, Justin, we were talking off-camera, just in the current climate. Really, what we want to say is, we are here. We are not going anywhere. Our doors are open. I like that. And just in this moment in time, when you think of all that's going on politically, we're still thriving. We open in a brand new building. We own it. We're in our community, and we're going to stay here for our community, and we're going to continue to expand. So we're never ever thinking about plan parameters and affiliate and a federation. We're never ever thinking about how we're going to close. We're thinking about how we're going to thrive and continue to grow. I love that. And I think it's really important for people out there to understand that. With all the things that you hear in the news these days about plan parenthood being defunded and all these other things, plan parenthood is not going anywhere. So you guys, you still have those services out there for you. Don't lose heart. Don't lose heart. I don't know what better way to end the show, but to say that very thing, don't lose heart. Get involved. No, you're not alone. I want to thank you for joining me today on Finding Respect in the Chaos. I'm Cynthia Lee Sinclair. This is Think Tech Hawaii. I hope you'll join me next time. Thank you.