DAILY LOBO new mexico
monday Women’s health center relocates March 24, 2014
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
by Ardee Napolitano
Protesters target UNMH CEO’s home
After UNM announced last week a planned relocation of its Center for Reproductive Health, anti-abortion activists continue to protest the facility. On Tuesday, the University announced that the center, currently located at 1701 Moon NE, will move to 2301 Yale SE. William Sparks, executive director for communication and marketing at UNM Health Sciences Center, said the center still does not have a specific date to move to the new location. He said the UNM Medical Group began planning the move about two years ago. “This decision is a culmination of a two-year process that was initiated in order to improve access and also to provide for more facility space in order to treat the growing number of patients,” he said. Sparks said that because the Medical Group runs the center, no taxpayer money or public funds will be used to finance the move. Although the center offers abortion services for pregnancies of up to 22 weeks, Sparks said the facility focuses on general women’s health services. “The majority of the workers are dedicated to women’s health of all kinds, including baby wellness checks and pre-natal care,” he said. “They do have pregnancy termination counseling and care, but that’s a very small portion … It’s been highly mischaracterized. It’s a center for reproductive health that deals with a full range of women’s health services.” Despite the continuous presence of anti-abortion activists near the facility in past years, Sparks said UNM decided to relocate the center independently. He said the decision had “absolutely nothing to do with any action this group has ever taken.” According to a press release from Protest ABQ, an anti-abortion ministry that was launched earlier this month, the move is “a result
by Ardee Napolitano
news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
Map courtesy of Google Maps Each pin marks the location of a Women’s Health Clinic near UNM. The blue pin is the current location of the UNM Center for Reproductive Health, 7.3 miles from UNM. The yellow pin marks the UNM CRH new location. Southwest Women’s options is marked by the red pin, and Planned Parenthood Surgical Center with the green. of both the recent launch of Protest ABQ and a continued presence outside of the UNM CRH for the past three years.” But this is false, Sparks said. “It’s ludicrous,” he said. “Our concern is to continue to provide health care and to guarantee the safety of our patients.” Tara Shaver, spokeswoman for Protest ABQ, continued to insist that the ministry’s protests are the reason behind the center’s relocation. She said anti-abortion activists in the city have been holding protests five days a week at the CRH’s current location since November. “It confirms what we knew all along: that our protest was making a difference,” she said. “They’re now trying to shy away, and it seems that they’re trying to hide themselves even more.” Shaver said she does not believe the protest did not impact UNM’s decision. She said the group demonstrates in front of the center to educate women to
slow down the center’s business. “When a woman goes into an abortion clinic, she just gets an abortion,” she said. “We’re there to offer real solutions to her problems in her life … When women choose not to have an abortion, that takes away from their business. That takes away money they would have gotten if a woman decided to kill her child.” And it is unimportant whether the CRH tackle other women’s health issues or not, Shaver said. “Would we really say that we’re OK with Adolf Hitler killing Jews if one day he’s handing food to people?” she said. “It doesn’t matter. He’s responsible for killing Jews, and the University of New Mexico is responsible for killing babies … They need to stop killing babies and truly help women in their most desperate times.” Despite claims that the protests did not impact UNM’s plan, Sparks said the University is still worried about the safety of the center’s employees. He said, however,
that there have not been specific threats from the protesters to CRH employees. “Everyone’s got a right to their convictions,” he said. “When you look at the different organizations involved, our concern is the specific history of these organizations involved now and some of the messages that they’ve given in other places than here … There’s been a continuation of that kind of violent behavior.” Shaver said her organization will continue protests against the University for it to close down the center in the future. “We do not appreciate that our tax dollars are being used through a publicly funded institution to kill babies in the mother’s womb,” she said. “We’re going to highlight every individual until the killing stops.” Protest ABQ will start protesting at the CRH’s new site on Yale and will continue protests at the current site today, Shaver said.
Chief of staff charged with strategic plan
Wohlert’s experience, demeanor recommended her to position by Chloe Henson
assistant-news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5 After a month-long internal search, UNM President Robert Frank’s office has found a new chief of staff. Frank appointed Amy Wohlert to the position on March 12. Wohlert, who holds a doctorate in speechlanguage pathology from Northwestern University, has held various positions at UNM, including vice provost and dean of graduate studies, interim dean for Anderson School of Management and associate provost for
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Academic Affairs, according to a news release. Wohlert will replace Dorothy Rodriguez, who resigned in early February for “personal reasons,” according to a past article by the Daily Lobo. Six candidates were considered for the position during the Office of the President’s internal search among UNM faculty members, according to documents obtained by the Daily Lobo through an Inspection of Public Records Act request. The other five candidates were Ronald Aldrich, Steven Block, Keith Haynie, Victor Strasburger and Douglas Thomas. The Daily Lobo submitted an IPRA request during the search process, but was unable to obtain the applications until after the search was closed because of UNM policy. UNM Policy 3210 states the University
should withhold from public inspection application materials until the closing date in order to “protect the integrity of the search process.” During his search, Frank said, he was looking for a candidate who understood how the University operated, had senior university leadership experience and possessed interpersonal skills and a calm demeanor. He said he had informal conversations with various faculty and staff members to help him decide on the most suitable candidate. “When I asked people informally who meets all those criteria, Amy’s name came up frequently,” he said. One of Wohlert’s biggest new responsibilities will be to help ensure the University stays on track with its strategic plan, UNM 2020, Frank said.
Police Shooting
Perfect hindsight
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LOS RANCHOS, N.M. – Antiabortion protesters swarmed the neighborhood in which the CEO of UNM Hospital lives to demand the closure of the University’s Center for Reproductive Health. About 15 people on Saturday morning marched around the residential area near Eakes Court NW to call on UNMH CEO Steve McKernan to close down the center, which offers abortions for pregnancies of up to 22 weeks. Protest ABQ, an anti-abortion ministry that was launched earlier this month, organized the protest. Tara Shaver, spokeswoman for the ministry, said her organization does not aim to single out McKernan. She said the protest aims to educate residents of the area about abortions in the city and in the University. “We are in his neighborhood to not call him out by name, but to let people know that UNM is helping to keep abortion in our city,” she said. “These are his doctors who are performing abortions through the UNM Health System.” McKernan was unable to return calls from the Daily Lobo over the weekend. Members of the ministry carried placards with pictures of dead fetuses while marching silently around the neighborhood. The organization’s truck, embellished with similar images, also drove around the streets slowly. Aside from Shaver, none of the other protesters agreed to identify themselves to the Lobo. At least two residents of the neighborhood confronted the organization face-to-face and demanded that they leave the area. When the protesters ignored the residents’ demands and continued the march, at least four officers from the Bernalillo County Sheriff ’s Office arrived to stop the protest. A city ordinance that passed the County Commission in October prohibits picketing outside of a person’s private residence in Bernalillo County. The ban passed to address violent anti-abortion protests against doctors who perform the procedure earlier last year. Shaver said she was not surprised with the residents’ negative reactions to Saturday’s protest. “A lot of times, people just want to ignore abortion, the killing of babies, as if it doesn’t exist,” she said. “When we bring it out to the public eye, people have to respond one way or another … Some people just lash out at us as if we were the enemy just because we’re the messenger letting people see the truth.”
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