Woman opposed to Planned Parenthood in Pasco

By Joe Chapman, Herald staff writer

Planned Parenthood's proposal to open a clinic next to Mark Twain Elementary School in Pasco has irked at least one potential neighbor and could draw a crowd to the clinic's public hearing next week.

"To put such a highly volatile business right next to an elementary school, ... I'm concerned about the impact it's going to have on the community," said Deeana Hoyt, who operates a day care on Pearl Street, on the other side of the school from where the clinic would be.

The health clinic would be at 3901 W. Court St., in a building previously used as a Century 21 office that's about 60 to 80 feet south of the school's playfield.

The clinic would provide reproductive health services such as annual exams, follow-up testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. Services would include birth control, HIV tests, cancer screenings as well as vasectomies.

The clinic wouldn't perform abortions.

"That's not in our plans right now," said Gina Popovich, public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of Central Washington. "We have (abortion) services in Kennewick, so we just don't feel like the community is needing those kind of services."

Rather, Pasco needs greater access to family planning and education, she said.

Hoyt said she believes Planned Parenthood ould perform abortions at the proposed location sooner or later if it were allowed to open there. And even if its clientele wouldn't be schoolchildren, it would be a "detrimental thing" and "a moral weight on the community" for the clinic to operate there, she said.

She said the clinic surely would draw protesters, the site of which might frighten children. Adults would be forced to discuss with the children why the protesters are there, and the graphic images protesters sometimes hold up could further disturb them, Hoyt said.

"We just do not want that kind of business right here, so close to our children," she said, noting that there's a crosswalk for children at the intersection by the corner where the clinic would be.

Planned Parenthood previously operated a clinic in Pasco, on North 20th Avenue south of Interstate 182. It opened in 1989 but closed after about five years and merged its operation with the Kennewick clinic.

But the need for reproductive health services is growing in Pasco, local and state health data show.

In 2006, the birth rate for 15- to 17-year-old girls in Franklin County was nearly 53 per 1,000, above the statewide average of about 15 per 1,000, the Benton-Franklin Health District reported.

In 2007, Franklin County had the state's second-highest HIV rate and third-highest chlamydia rate -- about 40 percent higher than the state average, according to a state health report. Benton County's chlamydia rate was nearly 10 percent below the state average.

Health officials at the time attributed Franklin County's high rates to a general lack of youth access to information and services and the county's larger proportion of high-risk groups such as Hispanics, 15- to 24-year-olds and people with low incomes.

It's not convenient for many clients in Pasco and Franklin County to get to Planned Parenthood's Kennewick clinic, said Cora Davidson, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman in Walla Walla.

"Trying to get to our Kennewick clinic, that can take over two hours by bus," Davidson said.

Making services more convenient for clients was the reason for proposing the Pasco site, Davidson said, and its location next to an elementary school wasn't on Planned Parenthood's radar, she said.

Davidson doesn't see the site choice as controversial, she said, because the clinic doesn't serve patients who are elementary school age unless they're accom-panied by a parent.

The law doesn't prevent Planned Parenthood from operating next to a school. But the nonprofit organization would need a special permit to operate in the area, which is zoned for office and retail establishments, said Rick White, community and economic development director for Pasco.

The Pasco Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing on the permit during its next meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. Thursday at city hall, 525 N. Third Ave. Comments also can be e-mailed to communitydevelopment@pasco-wa.gov or mailed to city hall at 525 N. Third Ave., Pasco, WA 99301, up until the time of the hearing.

Courtney Stenson, spokeswoman for Pasco School District, said it won't comment on the permit application because it's not a matter that would legally require the district's input.

Hoyt said the neighborhood is a tight-knit community that's generally pro-life, and even people she's talked to who are pro-choice think putting the clinic next to a school is a bad idea.

She learned about the permit application when a woman stopped by her home to give her a flier, and now she's helping to spread the word, she said.

"I am absolutely dead set against abortion, but I'm not a fanatic," she said. "I just think we need to represent the community ... because this is a really nice community here. I really love where I live."

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Friday, Jun. 12, 2009

Woman opposed to Planned Parenthood in Pasco

By Joe Chapman, Herald staff writer