'''Cool Cleveland People B. Michelle Johnson Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland By Peter Chakerian'''

Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland (PPGC) is an affiliate of one of the most trusted reproductive health care organizations in the world. They have existend since 1928, encouraging women to take control of their health by assuring that all people have information and means to make appropriate choices about "whether and when" to have children.

In light of this week's confirmation hearings of potential Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, most of the conversation Cool Cleveland had with PPGC's B. Michelle Johnson concentrated on the state of the Supreme Court, the future of Roe v. Wade based on the two upcoming appointments to the Supreme Court and the latest as it relates to PPGC in general. Johnson took time from her busy week to speak with CC about all of this.

Cool Cleveland: So how about this whole John Roberts inquisition? It’s been pretty interesting so far, wouldn’t you say?

B. Michelle Johnson: Definitely. As a nationwide organization, [PPGC are] not taking a stand on him yet. We’re asking our senators—just as [Pennsylvania Senator] Arlen Specter has done already—to really comb through pertinent material in their due diligence process, ask the appropriate questions and, as most people would expect, we want to see where the cards fall on him.

We are gravely concerned about Roberts, in part, because he doesn’t have the most positive path in terms of reproductive health care. But at the same time, we won’t be quick to judge. We want to see all of our senators given the chance to do their jobs and researching [Roberts] beforehand because quite honestly, he doesn’t have a long enough track record in being a judge to make a rushed decision about him. Chief Justices [decide] who write the opinions and that interpretation gets passed down to other judges to interpret as the “law of the land.” That’s where we get a little nervous—and if he gets in, he’s going to be there a while. So in that sense, there is a lot to consider.

Is it weird as an individual for you to see television spots proclaiming Roberts a “strict-constructionist” and there being stances “for” and “against” him? It has been weird for me, both in terms of wasted finances and that we’re not voting for him—

And you know, none of us really have a say-so. Absolutely. [People] can pressure [George] Voinovich and Specter next door. And it can mobilize the activists around the country to put pressure on the judiciary committee to do their job—which is what we’re doing, asking and encouraging our supporters to get out there, call the senators, email them and ask them to do so. But interview him for the serious, lifetime job that it really is. Outside of that, I’m not sure that commercials do anything remotely appropriate for the money that spent on them.

There simply aren’t enough cases out there to come up with a solid evaluation in either direction. [Roberts] is kind of squeaky clean and there is so little on him… and we’ve seen a lot more of him recently… which adds complexity to things. We will have to wait and see as things proceed to [determine] whether we are for or against him. We’ve got another Supreme Court Justice nominee to be thinking about as well, so at the same time we have to be thinking ahead.

Do you worry that Roe v. Wade will get overturned someday?

I don’t believe that Americans will stand for it… and I don’t worry about it being turned over, but I do worry about it being so severely gutted… [picking up napkin, taking pieces out of it] if you have little pieces taken away, a little at a time, the next thing you know we’re going to be holding on to this. And that’s what will be called Roe v. Wade. What we had in 1973 is barely what we have now. It will be harder and access will be more difficult—

You’ve been to a lot of conferences recently. Tell me a little bit about them. Have any been a shape-changer for you personally, or as part of PPGC?

I have to say, I was just so blown away by how far we have to go. Public policy conferences had me so utterly surprised to see what state that the state of Ohio is in comparison to other states and how it works against access to education and resources for prevention. Arkansas is out there right now protecting womens’ rights more than Ohio is… and yet people like to make fun of Arkansas and Mississippi as being [backwards] but actually it is worse here. To my understanding, Arkansas has pre-Roe laws so if Roe gets so severely gutted, there would still be legal [means to have an abortion]. California has some similar laws. And New York… well, precautionary measures have been taken. But of those progressive states, Ohio is not one of them.

And then you consider [Case Western Reserve University Director of Public Health] Scott Frank’s report on abstinence-only education. According to the report, Ohio received $8.1 million in federal funding for abstinence-only education in 2004, which is the fourth-highest amount of funding in the nation. And meanwhile, STD’s are skyrocketing in Ohio teenagers. The stats are there.

No one’s regulating [spending] or using checks and balances to see if it is actually working. We’re not a wealthy state and we’re banking on something not proven to work yet.

How about the biggest misconception about PGCC… it is?

Our sexuality education initiatives. Trying to fill those gaps that teens need to be educated, make well-reasoned decisions, encouraged to practice abstinence and promote abstinence. When kids go to have sex—which we all know they will—we want them to have the tools they need to protect themselves and make a concerted decision. When [others] are out there saying that condoms are useless and they won’t protect you, we just can’t sit there and say there is no correlation.

One thing I am involved in right now is the Republicans for Choice group—

Which is an interesting combination, by today’s standards—

Yeah. And I grew up in a pro-choice Republican family and back in the day—that “Wild, Wild West” Rockefeller Republicans group… [they] were more Libertarian, and government “keep your laws off of my body” kind of thing.

And so, I grew up being pro-choice before I even knew what it meant… but it also meant that as the party platform has changed, more people have started to disassociate Republican with pro-choice. But you look at Christy Todd Whitman, Arlen Specter… Arnold Schwarzenegger… there are still more moderate Republicans who are out there. We’ve had some donors who have thought we were messaging incorrectly. And we have been… but in delving deeper into that subject, I feel like pro-choice Republicans feel very isolated. Their Democratic friends feel like they’re against them and same with their Republican friends.

So how is best to correctly deliver your organization’s message?

Someone made the analogy that the Republicans in Cleveland [relating to pro-choice] must feel like the Democrats in Cleveland must feel, as they relate to Ohio. And that is a very astute, interesting way to put it. They feel isolated, like people are not listening to them. Making sure the message is appropriate.

Obviously, Ohio has a lot to work on. What does Cleveland – or perhaps Cuyahoga County as a whole – need to work on as it relates to your organization’s mission?

We all need to start working together more. That’s going to help our voice and change our voice. We are non-partisan in our national office, as well as outside, which oversees advocacy for the whole country. With a few exceptions, there are very few pro-choice Republicans.

My job is to work in the communities surrounding Cleveland and the eight-county area outside of Cleveland and get those communities all on the same page. Other organizations and government institutions thought advocacy, education and health care service come together a great deal.

But that model needs to be strengthened in a way—it’s like the old adage where one fish will be eaten by the shark, but if you have a large school of fish, the odds are you won’t be overwhelmed by the shark—

An appropriate analogy for life as well—

Work together as a coalition of fish and you will end up as a smarter group in the sea. Resources are limited, money is limited. And we just need to keep it up in building relationships together to enhance that experience.

That’s what all of this really is about at the end of the day.

Interview and Photo by Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com