'To Speak for Ourselves'

1998's crucial bloc sounds off on critical issue

BY STACY LAVILLA

APAs and Abortion

The pregnancy came as a surprise for the third-generation Japanese American, who at the time was 24 years old, completing her second year of law school, and involved with a boyfriend who was battling a drug problem.

The decision was an emotionally taxing one. She struggled for weeks with whether to continue the pregnancy, but after weighing all of her options, she decided that not doing so would be her best course of action.

At the time, she says, she could not have provided the life she had always hoped she could for a child.

"I thought I needed to finish law school," said Deanne, who lives in Southern California. "There was just no way. It wasn't the most ideal situation for me to bring a child into this world."

Despite her Christian beliefs, Deanne strongly believes that a woman alone should be entitled to decide what she does with her body.

"I feel without a doubt that a woman should have the right to choose," said Deanne, a Republican. "Telling someone they can't have an abortion is like passing judgment on someone else, and you can't do that.

"I think abortions are wrong, but I don't think I, or anyone else, should tell someone else what to do ... You have to let other people make their own choices."

Photo by Henry Woon/1989

The San Francisco abortion rights protest nearly a decade ago drew people of all races, and today, the issue remains contentious.

Since 1973, millions of women all over the country have been able to choose legal abortion. The controversy, though, hasn't abated--and resurges regularly during election years. And this year, with Chinese American Republican Matt Fong and pro-choice Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in a virtual tie for the November election, both abortion and Asian Americans have taken center stage. Curiously, though, the bloc and the issue have been discussed and debated as if each is completely isolated from the other.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Planned Parenthood, which has 855 sites across the country, half of which provide abortion services, Asian American women had 7, 413 of the 164,749 abortions its centers performed in 1997--about 4.5 percent of the total. That figure is down from the 7,933 Asian American women who had abortions the year before--about 5.2 percent of the total. In 1994, 1.4 million abortions were performed according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

Asian American women have long been part of the abortion debate. In 1989, a group concerned that their voices were absent from the larger debate formed Asians and Pacific Islanders for Choice (APIC), a volunteer-run, pro-choice organization addressing reproductive health issues for Asian American women. The group, since renamed Asian Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health (APIRH), was the first such organization to address Asian American women's reproductive health concerns, according to Peggy Saika, an early member.

"We wanted to create a voice, an API women's voice, a vehicle that could talk about these issues and be pro-choice," said Saika, who is now the executive director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network in Richmond, in the East Bay.

"We felt that we could not have a situation where other women were speaking for us, that we really had to be able to speak for ourselves."

To reach Asian ethnic communities, APIC decided it needed to broaden its focus. Saika says she and other members set out to address not just the issue of abortion per se, but of choice.

"It is all about a choice and women's health, and it is still about a woman's right to choose."

The group surveyed women about their health concerns and knowledge, and took their responses to national abortion conferences. "What we started talking about for most women of color is it cannot and should not be reduced to a debate about abortion. When it continues to be framed in that way or put out that way, it doesn't resonate with our communities. We needed to be able to talk about everything, including that, [to] immigrants, immigrant refugees, all the cultural barriers ...

"We think in relationship to the community, not individual women."

Although many pro-choice organizations were unable to quantify the number of Asian American women that have become involved in the movement since the '70s, numerous groups acknowledged a jump in Asian American participation.

"Anecdotally, we have definitely seen an increase across the board in terms of Asian Americans both with our staffing, and board leadership," said Therese Wilson, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood.

Still, getting Asian American women to talk about abortion, let alone become active on the issue, was not easy.

"In those days, it was not discussed broadly; it was still hush-hush," said Alicia Wang, the first vice-chair of the state Democratic Party who in the 1970s worked as a translator at a San Francisco Chinatown women's clinic. "You couldn't tell your friends or your parents you were getting an abortion; it was still very stigmatized.

"The women's movement in the Asian community was quieter in some ways than the general mainstream movement, but there was still a lot of strength and certainly there were very strong needs," said Wang, also an ESL instructor. "In a way it was sort of isolated because it wasn't easy to get support, because we weren't getting support from our own community, and we were not getting support from the mainstream community."

One hurdle facing Asian American women, she said, came from other Asian Americans, particularly men.

"There was a schism in the community. In the community empowerment, the Asian empowerment struggle, we were one, but when it came to these issues, the men, our 'brothers,' did not understand, and they were also not supportive; and we had to fight not only the white community, the racist element, but fight the gender lines as well.

"I still remember when they brought up the issue of parental consent ... I had a huge argument, and I said, 'You haven't sat with a young 14-year-old who is scared shitless. Who is she going to go to when her father will beat the crap out of her?' "

A decade later, the abortion controversy still rages, and many of the issues remain the same. But for most Asian American women, the issue has boiled down to a woman's right to decide what to do with her body.

Photo by Henry Woon/1989

Abortion rights advocates hold up their view of the opposition.

The 1996 study, which focused on women in Alameda, Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, polled 674 women ages 18 to 35 of various ethnicities, including Chinese, Sri Lankan, Thai and Malaysian. It found that 69 percent of respondents supported abortion rights, 21 percent said abortions should be allowed only in cases of rape or incest, 4 percent did not support abortion, and 6 percent didn't know. The same survey found that 44 percent of respondents were unsure whether they would ever have an abortion, and 17 percent reported having had an abortion.

Like many other women, Alice Nishi, a Democrat, considers abortion an issue to be decided by the woman and her family. "It is a woman's choice between herself, her husband ... and what she feels is right between herself and her health issues," said Nishi, 75, and a second-generation Japanese American. "I have always felt that way, because it is my body and that's how I feel in relation to that.

"Government should not be in my business," she said.

Addressing religious arguments, Nishi, a Presbyterian, said she was "not a literal Bible translation person.

"Those people who do oppose abortion very strongly quote passages from the Bible. I believe in the sanctity of life too, but if the embryo is one that isn't a healthy one and it endangers a mother's life and health as well, I think abortion is justified, but it is up to the individual woman and her conscience."

Others agreed that the right to have an abortion is mistakenly perceived as an all-or-nothing issue.

"It is not a simple matter," said Grace Kim, a Korean American. "People ask me, 'How can you say abortion is OK?' and I say, 'No. I didn't say abortion is OK. ... It is a more complicated issue, so the woman should make the choice."

The 67-year-old retired teacher stressed that "it shouldn't be a birth control method.' ... I don't encourage anyone to do that. But no one else can make the decision for her; she's the one to make the decision about her life, so we can't say by law that you can't have an abortion."

Kim, also a Presbyterian and Democrat, explains that those who favor abortion rights are not against life, but are concerned with whether or not the potential mother could give a child the life he or she deserves.

"There are two groups, anti- and pro-abortion, and actually people call themselves pro-life, but we're all pro-life.

"Of course life is really valuable and a precious thing, but it is better not to have a baby, [than] to have the baby and abuse the child. How many stories do you hear about throwing away the baby or dumping it in the toilet? We don't need to encourage young people to have abortions, but when women become pregnant and really can't have a baby, it should be a woman's choice."

Among conservative women, too, the issue is often not cut and dry. Mamie Yee, who is in her mid-40s and runs her own secretarial service, considers herself a staunch Republican and is president of Chinese American Republicans of Sacramento, but she differs with the party's strong anti-abortion platform.

"In some ways I agree with what they're saying, but it depends on the situation," Yee said. Stressing that her views aren't necessarily reflective of the party's, she explained, "To me, it's like that should be a private. I don't think the government should say one way or the other."

Gloria Apolinario, though, takes a different view.

Born in the Philippines and raised Catholic, she had understood abortion to be a crime against both her country and her God, but she re-examined her assumptions after immigrating to the United States, where abortion has been legal in all states since the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision.

"Because it was a Catholic country, I grew up feeling that it was a bad thing," said Apolinario, who is also a Republican. "I then came to this country where you are being given a choice ... and then I had a lot of mixed emotions about it."

Apolinario explained that her upbringing and her religious beliefs helped reaffirm her moral opposition to abortion. "It's a life you're talking about when you talk about abortion, and it's only God that can take it away, and I believe that," she said.

However, she's hesitant about applying that judgment to others. "I'm not condemning anybody ... but I think it's about educating yourself on it before you make a decision of what you want."

There are other options besides abortion, says United for Life in San Francisco, which for more than 25 years has provided referrals to pregnant women.

"We believe in the sanctity of each life and that each life is precious," said a spokeswoman who declined to be identified. "We also realize it can be very difficult for women in a crisis, such as if there is a pregnancy and if the husband or boyfriend doesn't want to have the child.

"We believe that if women have the opportunity to come see videos, get information that there is a real baby developing inside of them" they will choose adoption, the spokeswoman said. "We want to have women know that God is sending a life and even if he is sending it into a difficult situation, that it is a precious person."

Birthright of San Francisco helps some 200 to 300 women, including some immigrants, with alternatives to abortions a year. The group, which has 300 centers worldwide, offers counseling for women in crisis situations, referrals, and free pregnancy tests.

"We're a pregnancy support services organization, and we offer alternatives to abortion," said Director Mary Alba, adding that the group does not get involved with abortions in any way. "If a woman has heard the alternatives and goes off and decides to have an abortion, that is her decision. We're just there to walk her through options that she didn't know about ...We do not get involved in abortions at all. If she were to have one, she would decide on her own where to go."

Saika said she understood those who would not choose abortion for themselves--for her, women's right to choose, in any sphere, is the key. As she explained, "a woman's right to choose abortion is also about your right to choose whether you work in an oppressive job [or stay in] an abusive relationship or situation; it's the right to be able to choose on all of those ... you have a right to not be in those situations."

Saika's Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) is passing on that message to a younger generation. With teen birthrates among the Laotian American population among the state's highest, APEN and Asian Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health are targeting adolescents through its Laotian Organization Project, which looks to educate and empower girls and young women in and around Richmond, Calif. In addition, APIRH is involved in projects targeting other ethnicities, including Cambodian Americans in Long Beach, Calif., and those of Tongan, Chamorran and Samoan descent in the Bay Area.

"The idea is if you provide young women with more of life's opportunities and more hope for their future, then teen pregnancy and birthrates will also fall," said Yin Ling Leung, APIRH's executive director.

The process of including the voice of Asian Americans in the mainstream abortion-rights movement remains important, said Saika.

"Yes, the Asian American woman's voice, it is different and it is valuable," she said. To her, including that voice in the pro-choice movement "was another opportunity to really look at what is Asian American women's leadership ... and to try to build a model around that.

"That was the whole idea about APIC, that we just didn't want to keep lamenting that there wasn't a vehicle within the reproductive rights movement ... We don't want to sit around and complain about stuff, but to do something."

For more information, contact Asian Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health, 510-268-8988; Asian Pacific Environmental Network, 510-834-8920; California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, 415-546-7211; and Planned Parenthood, 415-441-5454; United for Life, 415-567-2293; Birthright of San Francisco, 415-664-9909.

Issue Looms Large For Boxer, Fong

But like most voters, both see abortion in shades of gray

BY STACY LAVILLA

Whether politicians want it to or not, abortion perennially surfaces as a campaign issue--and when the candidates differ substantially, as do U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer and GOP challenger Matt Fong, the debate and the hyperbole quickly heat up.

Though they differ on issues such as the environment, child care, public education, and military spending, abortion receives just as much or more attention from many pundits, reporters and voters, including many Asian Americans. And as the differences get played up, at least one fact gets scant notice: Like the voters, both candidates recognize that when it comes to abortion, there are shades of gray.

Boxer, for instance, has long been regarded as one of the Senate's most vocal proponents of abortion rights, and her stance seems clear: "I support Roe vs. Wade very clearly, and I leave it as the law that gives women the right to choose. ... I don't think government should make this private decision."

But Boxer, like Fong, could support a prohibition on certain late-term abortions; where they differ is on where to draw the line. Boxer insists that waivers be available in cases in which a pregnant woman's health is at risk; Fong would ban such abortions unless the woman's life itself was in jeopardy or the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest.

Like Boxer's stance, Fong's position appears clear, at least at first. He has repeatedly reiterated his personal opposition to abortion, pointing out that as an adoptee, he is glad his birth mother didn't have one. But like Boxer, he opposes the proposed Human Life Amendment, which would ban virtually all abortions. In fact, Fong says, he supports abortion rights during the first three months of pregnancy.

Neither candidate, though, plays up their common ground. More typical was Boxer's denunciation after the state treasurer said in televised remarks that the Supreme Court "wrongly decided" to affirm abortion rights more than 25 years ago in Roe vs. Wade, and that the decision should be unraveled.

Fong's campaign soon lobbed back at Boxer, with spokesman Steve Schmidt saying that the incumbent was distorting the facts and telling half-truths. "Matt Fong was asked the question about Roe v. Wade in terms of the decision in '73, where he said it was wrongly decided in '73 and should have been a matter left in the hands of the state," Schmidt said.

"It's wrong for her to scare women because Matt Fong supports women's right to choose in the first trimester of pregnancy. There are too many abortions, and the goal of both the Republicans and the Democrats should be to lessen the number of abortions."

Still, Fong does support more restrictions than does Boxer, including a requirement that girls under 18 obtain a parent's consent for the procedure, as had been required by a never-enforced state law that was eventually struck down. Fong also opposes using state funds to pay for poor women's abortions. Says Schmidt: "A 12-year-old girl should not be allowed to have abortions paid for by tax dollars without her parents' permission."

But Boxer doesn't see consent as an all-or-nothing issue. While she opposes mandatory parental consent, she is open to a requirement that an adult give consent, calling it "a far more moderate approach to this. There should be adult consent if she can go to her grandmother or a priest, or mom, or rabbi or a doctor."

Explaining the distinction, she said: "I feel that when you have parental consent law forcing a child to go to parents, it could lead to suicide, to terrible things ... I wish that we could legislate a loving family with [compassion], but you just can't do that."

In this case, Fong's camp retorts that the mandate would not be all-or-nothing. In such an instance as the above, Schmidt said, "There are several service agencies out there, priests and grandmothers that could help that person navigate" through a judicial bypass.

"In those tragic circumstances ... there is help out there--and we'll make sure help is out there to navigate the child through that."

In their first televised debate last week, Fong said he hopes to make it easier for women to carry unplanned pregnancies to term, perhaps by making adoption easier.

"Adopting should be as easy as possible and shouldn't be a huge bureaucracy and something that is difficult to do," Schmidt said. Boxer would agree with a lot of that.

Still, even with all the hullabaloo and hyperbole, some Asian Americans don't think the issue is enough to make or break the election for either candidate.

"I think a lot of people care tremendously about the issue, but in any political campaign, it doesn't become a single-issue fight," said Bill Wong, a consultant for California state Sen. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte. "With Matt Fong and Barbara Boxer, there will be many areas where Asians will have a choice in which they elect [a senator] such as immigration, affirmative action."

But when it really comes down to the voting booth, he said, "The bread and butter issues will be the economy, taxes and public safety."

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