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Planned Parenthood Supporters Storm the Capitol

More than 500 pro-choice activists from around the State of California stormed the State Capitol on May 9th to participate in CAPITOL DAY 2001, an education-lobbying day organized by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California at the Sacramento Convention Center. Legislators were invited for to join us for lunch so they could experience the power of being in a room full of pro-choice activists gathered together in support of reproductive freedom.

Dedicated Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Planned Parenthood staff, board members, volunteers, and interns, joined by Santa Barbara Pro-Choice Coalition members, got up at the crack of dawn to catch the 6:20am flight to Sacramento, to participate in the day.

CAPITOL DAY 2001 included workshops and panel discussions focused on sexuality education, international family planning, and medical abortion. The workshop topics included the Politics of Violence; International Family Planning; Medical Abortion; Medi-Cal and Medical Schools; and the safety of Roe v. Wade. Dr. Scott McCann, Vice President of Education for our affiliate, and Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson were both featured speakers.

Lilly Spitz, Chief Legal Counsel for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, presented a compelling analysis of the current makeup of the Supreme Court and, in the event that Justices retire during the current administration's term, how future conservative Bush appointments to the Court will threaten the safety of Roe v. Wade. Lilly also gave an in-depth overview of the relevance and importance of judicial appointments that was sobering.

Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson took time out of her hectic schedule to join us for lunch and each member of our group had the opportunity to lobby her individually about legislation that will come before her for vote. As many of you already know, Hannah-Beth received a 100% pro-choice rating and a "Legislator of The Year" award from Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California last year.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the lunchtime keynote speaker, gave an informative and insightful speech about the role of the Justice Department in protecting reproductive freedom. Anyone present having any doubt about the importance of electing a pro-choice Attorney General, was convinced by the end of his speech that the political persuasion of the AG plays a fundamental role in whether the work we do is successful.

Staff and volunteers ventured to the Capitol Building in almost 100-degree heat to meet with legislative staff in the offices of Assemblymember Tony Strickland and Assemblymember Abel Maldonardo to lobby in support of AB 470 (Wesson) The Male Involvement Bill, which seeks an additional appropriation in the Budget for the Male Involvement Program. We all decided that even anti-choice legislators could support a program that has proven to show that 80% of the young men participating in male involvement efforts believe that family planning is a shared responsibility.

We all left Sacramento exhausted but energized, believing more than ever in the importance of the work we do.

Why Mother's Day Means So Much To Me
by Lauren Giardina

On May thirteenth, my mother will be waking up to breakfast in bed, handmade cards, and a bouquet of flowers. Mother's Day is the day that my family chooses to recognize my mother's unselfish dedication and constant commitment to her family.

Mother's day is the day I choose to reflect on all she did for my siblings and me and to thank her for always being there for us. For all the birthday parties she planned, all the Halloween costumes she made, the band concerts she left work to attend, the carpools she drove and all the late night conversations we had and the good advice she bestowed upon me. It is the day when I think about what kind of mother I want to be.

It wasn't until after I moved away to college, that I really began to realize and appreciate the enormous responsibility that mothers have. Now I am responsible for making my own decisions, what to do when I am sick, the food I eat, how much sleep I need, how to organize my time efficiently between work and play so that I can get good grades.

As I contemplate the immense undertaking of motherhood, I think of my friends back home who had babies in high school. Some were able to finish school, while others had to put their lives on hold in order to undertake the responsibilities of becoming a parent.

When I was home recently I spent the day with one of my friends who was a teenage Mom. While I'm away at college worrying about myself, she has the responsibility of holding down a fulltime job, getting her child to school everyday, and being the 21 year old mother of a six year old daughter. To me, that seemed like a much greater undertaking than looking after a newborn baby.

At twenty-one, I realize I am nowhere near ready for motherhood but I am committed to making responsible choices in my life that will enable me to postpone parenthood until I am emotionally and financially ready to take on the enormous responsibility for another human being. Thanks to my mother, I was educated early on about contraception. Talking with my mother about reproductive health care and the life threatening consequences of having unprotected sex made me a more responsible teen. Studies show that teens that can talk with their parents about these issues are more likely to delay sexual intercourse and use contraception more responsibly. I am an example of that!

In January I began an internship with Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties, Inc. I would like to help educate other young women and men so that they can choose to make responsible choices about whether or when to become parents. I also wanted to learn more about the political aspects of reproductive freedom. I am learning that much of the work of Planned Parenthood, in addition to providing reproductive health care services, is in the development of sexuality education to promote healthy sexual attitudes and responsible sexual behavior. One of the things I like most about my work at Planned Parenthood is that I get the opportunity to talk to young women and men on college campuses. I hope that the information I am able to share encourages them to be thoughtful and responsible about their reproductive health care decisions.

Recent data provided by the State of California Department of Health Services shows that access to contraception and sexuality education that teaches abstinence and contraception are contributing to the decline in the incidence of teen pregnancy throughout the state of California. The good news is that the number of California teen births continues a downward trend that started in 1992. Additionally, the number of abortions has also declined to a 20 year low. Teens who are sexually active are using contraception more effectively, while the age at which youth become sexually active is increasing. The average age of first intercourse for females is seventeen while for males it is sixteen and a half. California's teen birth rate is no longer the highest in the USA.

Deciding whether or not to bring a child into this world is one of the biggest decisions we will ever make. It is a decision that requires a lifetime commitment to loving and caring. Waiting until we are emotionally and financially ready to take on the responsibility of motherhood will help ensure that every child is a loved and wanted addition to our family. My hope is to be as good a mother to my children as my mother is to me.

Loren Giardina is a UCSB Student and an Intern at Planned Parenthood of SBVSLO. To obtain more information on Planned Parenthood's education programs or on publications that assists parents and teens talk about reproductive health issues please call 963-2445 x 25.

What Father's Can Learn From Their Kids
by Eddie Castaneda

When my wife and I decided to bring a child into this world, there was a lot to consider. Some of the more important questions we asked ourselves included: How financially ready are we? Are we going have the support of our friends and family, can we handle putting some of our own plans on hold for a short while to raise a child, and if we could handle the responsibility of guiding a child through life and preparing him for the future. These were all very important issues to consider, and we put a lot of thought into every one of our questions. However, the issue that caused me to stress the most was not the issue of money or time or responsibility. It was when I asked myself, "how successful will I be at raising a healthy, happy, confident, educated and generally well rounded child in a world of violence, bullying, school shootings, gangs, drugs, teenage pregnancy, and STD's."

I thank Planned Parenthood for not only teaching me how to be a good father, but also easing some of my stress of becoming a father. Wait, did he just say Planned Parenthood taught him to be a good father? Yes, that's exactly what I said. You see, Planned Parenthood has given me the unique and amazing opportunity of working as an educator for Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties. As an educator, I spend most of my time coordinating a ten-week comprehensive sexuality, parenting, life skills, and mentoring program for high-risk youth. I also spend quite a bit of time coordinating a long-term youth development, peer outreach, mentoring program for six high-risk youth.

What kind of youth are high-risk youth? Well, they include teenage violent offenders, neglected children, gang members, drug addicts, teen parents, probation youth, and incarcerated youth. These are teenagers who have definitely moved beyond the "at-risk" classification and have moved into a new category of risk. Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's so amazing about working with teenagers who carry with them so many problems and issues? Won't they become a burden on your own life and even possibly bring harm to you or your family? Well, I've discovered that the world that I was so afraid to bring my son into was the world that taught me the most about being a good father.

While my wife was pregnant with our son I read a lot about raising a child and becoming a good father. I also talked with parents who had successfully raised healthy, happy, confident, educated and generally well rounded children. I watched videos, listened to tapes, and subscribed to parenting magazines. Although I felt confident that the information I was getting from professionals and parents would help me in my quest to become a good father, I needed more. I needed to know what the real issues, problems, struggles, concerns, challenges, and fears our children face today.

So, I decided to ask the teenagers I work with. The information they shared with me has by far been some of the most valuable information I could have ever received. The teenagers told me about their families and about their experiences of feeling unwanted or ignored while growing up. They told me about how their parents attempted to do all of their parenting on a weekend or during a trip rather than daily. They talked to me about feeling and often looking different and wanting nothing else but to fit in with their peers. They told me about their schools and their teachers and the discipline they received when their calls for help were often interpreted as deviant behavior. They also told me about how some of their teachers simply gave up educating them and lowered the standard rather than finding ways to help them achieve at normal school work. They told me about being judged by society before getting to know who they really are and what they stand for. They talked to me about growing up and getting a job or going to college and their fear of leaving their families and friends. They told me about their fears of moving into a world of technology when they can't afford any. Some even told me about giving up and about the pressures that drove some of them to nearly committing suicide.

All of these conversations taught me so much. I learned that children need to feel wanted and loved and respected. I learned that as parents, we need to pay attention to our children and listen to not only the spoken messages, but the unspoken ones as well. I learned that children need to know that we believe in them. I learned that children need to be guided through life, not controlled. I learned that parents need to take a more active role in the education in their children. I also learned that the most important thing we can give a child is our time.

Although most of the youth end up thanking me for coordinating and teaching the awesome programs that Planned Parenthood brings to them, I can't help but thank them back for helping me learn what it means to be a good father. My son has benefited so much thanks to my job and the teenagers I work with. My wife and I understand the importance of spending time with our child so we decided to work shifts that would allow at least one of us to be with our son. I show my son how much I love him every time I get a chance. I've really learned that being a good father means so much more than just playing with your baby and then giving him to his mother when he cries. I bathe him daily, talk to him, feed him, tickle him, feed him, kiss him, hug him, play with him, walk with him, change diapers, and put him to sleep.

One teenager I taught and mentored who continued making mistakes in school and in life told me that children are like empty buckets. He said his bucket was empty! When I asked why, he told me that the two things that could fill his bucket were hope and love. He said that he had none in his life! So I told him "what do you mean you don't have hope in your life? I certainly care about you and I believe you will become a very important person some day!" Then he looks at me and says, "your hope and caring for me only adds a few drops to my bucket. The truth is, it's been empty my whole life! It's going to need a whole lot more that just ten weeks of education and mentoring to help me!" So I asked him, "so what will it take to fill you're bucket?" And he says to me, "my parents acknowledging that I am alive." He also says, "please be sure to tell everyone you teach about parenting to remember their children, after all, we are the future!"

Eddie Castaneda is a Community Education Coordinator at Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo, Counties, Inc