Isle Planned
Parenthood
gains support

By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Shana Chung, president of Planned Parenthood of Hawaii, shows some letters of support her chapter has received since the national organization began disaffiliation procedures. "We've turned the corner and can stand successfully on our own. We don't understand why they want to pull the plug on us."

As its fate is debated,
a state agency and
others offer praise

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

In a state where teen pregnancy and abortion rates lead the nation, closing Planned Parenthood of Hawaii would be a "disaster," says pediatrician Robert Wilkinson.

"Planned Parenthood primarily serves the population who needs help the most, teens and young women," said Wilkinson, who cares for teen-agers. "If Planned Parenthood was shut down in our current environment of budget crises, it would leave a lot of teens without any family planning means."

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which began disaffiliation procedures against the Hawaii chapter, will hear the case Jan. 23-24 in New York.

The federation will decide its fate at a board meeting Feb. 9.

Hawaii has the third highest rate of teen pregnancies and the highest rate of teen abortions in the nation, according to a May 1997 report from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a not-for-profit agency for reproductive health research based in New York.

The report used the most recent state data from 1992, with additional information from the state's abortion agencies.

"I was surprised myself at how high Hawaii's rates are," said Stanley Henshaw, deputy director of research for the institute.

"There may be some cultural acceptance of abortion. Some Asian cultures are more accepting of it. However, it wouldn't explain the high pregnancy rate. You would think Hawaii is trying to prevent teen pregnancy."

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Hawaii is indeed trying to prevent teen pregnancy, said Sarah Kuzmanoff, supervisor of family planning services in the Health Department.

That's why it needs Planned Parenthood, she said.

"There's a definite trend since 1992 showing our rates are coming down," Kuzmanoff said. "Which brings us back to the importance of Planned Parenthood. If their services are taken away, things could get worse."

Planned Parenthood Federation says the Hawaii affiliate fails to meet its national standards medically and financially. But the Hawaii chapter said the federation wants it to merge with a mainland affiliate because of past financial problems, which the Hawaii chapter said it has corrected.

"This is very alarming," said Andresen Blom, executive director for Hawaii Right to Life. "If the national Planned Parenthood finds the Hawaii chapter lacking in their very lenient medical standards, Hawaii is practicing unsafe medicine," he said. "The victims are women and children of Hawaii. We are not unhappy to see Planned Parenthood go."

The state Health Department, which annually inspects Planned Parenthood's three clinics on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, gave it a positive review in May. The state subsidizes Planned Parenthood of Hawaii's low-income patients who have no health insurance.

"The results were very, very satisfactory," Kuzmanoff said. "We were very pleased."

The Planned Parenthood Golden Gate chapter in San Francisco also inspected Hawaii's medical team Dec. 10-13 and found them to be "practicing very good medicine," said Michael Hemsley, medical director of the Golden Gate chapter.

"We found no material substantive issues. The physicians and nurse practitioners are the best. I wouldn't mind working with any of them," said Hemsley, noting that the Hawaii chapter's medical director is an associate professor of obstetric-gynecology at University of Hawaii.

Kuzmanoff and Loretta Fuddy, the state's chief of maternal and child health, wrote a letter Jan. 5 to Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, expressing, "strong support for Planned Parenthood of Hawaii's remaining a PPFA affiliate in good standing . . . our clients are being provided with excellent services."

Removing Planned Parenthood would greatly affect rural areas, including the Big Island and Maui, said Janis Carmen, a Health Department nurse in Kona.

"It's one more barrier to access family planning services. We have so few resources out here that when we lose a major source like Planned Parenthood, if affects all of us."

The state's poor economy and managed care competition contributed to the Hawaii chapter's half-million dollar debt, said Shana Chung, Planned Parenthood of Hawaii's president. But streamlining and increased fund-raising has helped reduce three-quarters of the debt.

"We've turned the corner and can stand successfully on our own. We don't understand why they want to pull the plug on us now," Chung said.

The federation denies forcing the Hawaii chapter to merge.

"It has nothing to do with politics," insisted Suellen Craig, national vice president of Planned Parenthood affiliates. "It has to do with a membership decision to agree on national standards. It's not something conjured up on New York's Fifth Avenue."

Hawaii has balked at merging with a mainland chapter because of cultural sensitivity issues and distance, Chung said.

"Many donors are really upset. They feel it's important to have a board made up of local representatives who understand the community issues," Chung said.

"There's a history here of cultural uniqueness. There's so much about Hawaii that's special and wonderful that is different than being on the mainland."