STORY: School Board Confronted By Parents, Concerned Citizens

STEVE MARQUEZ / STMARQ: Hundreds of concerned citizens and parents rally and await their turn to speak before the board, outside the Ginger Shattuck Eduation Center where the La Mirada / Norwalk School Board was to consider a Planned Parenthood on the John Glen High School campus in Norwalk, California before the proposal was shelved until a later date.

A planned agenda item regarding a Planned Parenthood clinic on the campus of John Glenn High School was postponed by the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District School Board on Monday, July 18 due to overwhelming public outcry. The proposal would have put the clinic on the property of, and in easy access to hundreds of high school students at the expense of taxpayers according to the Clinic Services Agreement between Planned Parenthood and the School District.

In hopes of cooling the passions of protestors of the proposed Planned Parenthood, the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District decided to postpone the vote according to a statement from the board dated, July 18, 2022:

The Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Board of Education will postpone discussion of Board Agenda Item #12a regarding the Planned Parenthood clinic at John Glenn High School.

The Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Board of Education will postpone discussion of Board Agenda Item #12a regarding the Planned Parenthood clinic at John Glenn High School. As a result, action will not be taken this evening during the regularly scheduled Board Meeting.

The Board of Education and Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District has no further comment at this time.

(https://www.nlmusd.org/apps/news/article/1632938)

The announcement did not have the effect they sought. Soon cries to protest and speak during the school board meeting on Monday, July 18 went throughout the Norwalk / La Mirada communities along with others from miles around. Hundreds of pro-life activists, concerned citizens, parents and even students from John Glenn High School, who would be directly effected showed up to voice their opinions before the board. Many spoke of their opposition to the proposed clinic. Others shared their intensely personal stories of how abortion effected them and their families. 

STEVE MARQUEZ / STMARQ: Three Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Safety Officers stand watch outside the Ginger Shattuck Eduation Center where the La Mirada-Norwalk School Board was to consider a Planned Parenthood on the John Glen High School campus in Norwalk, California before the proposal was shelved until a later date.

Those who waited to speak were kept outside of the Ginger Shattuck Education Center, where the School Board met inside, by School Safety officers. A Public Address System with a loud speaker allowed the group outside to hear the speaker inside.

One mother said that she had an abortion when she was young and expressed how guilty she had felt for years. She eventually planted a tree in Israel in reminder of the life that would have been. She went on to have at least one other daughter, who also spoke from a wheelchair about keeping schools free of a Planned Parenthood Clinic. 

Another woman, Rosa Whetsell, who told me that medical professionals advised her to abort her first pregnancy, 18 years ago, due to her epilepsy.

“They wanted me to abort her,” referring to her daughter Autumn.
“She came out perfectly fine.” Whetsell said. She became pregnant a year later and was advised again that an abortion was the best way to deal with her health issues.
“I didn’t and now I have him.” She said.
Whetsell became pregnant for the third time eight years later and was also advised to have an abortion, but she refused. She now has another daughter who is “perfectly fine” Whetsel shared her story with me as an encouragement to other women who are being told that abortion is the only way out.

STEVE MARQUEZ / STMARQ: A woman holds a sign that reads, “Schools: Teach Math Science Social Study’s Not Murder Shame On You School Board.” While gathering outside the Ginger Shattuck Eduation Center where the La Mirada / Norwalk School Board was to consider a Planned Parenthood on the John Glen High School campus in Norwalk, California before the proposal was shelved until a later date.

According the the proposed Clinic Services Agreement, not only would Planned Parenthood be able to provide medical advise and dispense medication to minors without parental consent, they would also inhabit their offices rent and utilities paid for by the School District and ultimately, the tax payers.

STEVE MARQUEZ / STMARQ: Protestors hold signs in protest on Pioneer Blvd., outside of the Ginger Shattuck Eduation Center where the La Mirada / Norwalk School Board was to consider a Planned Parenthood on the John Glen High School campus in Norwalk, California before the proposal was shelved until a later date.

Protestors on the sidewalk near Pioneer Blvd held signs and spoke used a bullhorn to communicate their pro-life message. A small group of counterprotestors gathered across the busy four-lane boulevard and began shouting at the pro-life protestors.

Public Safety Officers quickly calmed the situation when it appeared to become a physical altercation.

The night ended with over 2 hours of public comments from parents and members of the community.

For more photos please click here.
A protestor holds signs which says “Pray To End Abortion” as cars pass with both cheers and jeers.
Isaiah, a pro-life protestor, holds the National Pro-Life Flag outside the Ginger Shattuck Eduation Center where the La Mirada / Norwalk School Board was to consider a Planned Parenthood on the John Glen High School campus in Norwalk, California before the proposal was shelved until a later date.
Protestors hold signs and shout about the right to life for babies in the womb. A man holds a sign with brutal pictures of an aborted baby that says, “Murder Is Not Healthcare.”
A woman holds a sign that reads, “Stop Over Sexualizing Our Children!” during a protest outside of the Ginger Shattuck Eduation Center where the La Mirada / Norwalk School Board was to consider a Planned Parenthood on the John Glen High School campus in Norwalk, California before the proposal was shelved until a later date.
A man carries a cross among other protestors on Pioneer Blvd. outside of the Ginger Shattuck Eduation Center where the La Mirada / Norwalk School Board was to consider a Planned Parenthood on the John Glen High School campus in Norwalk, California before the proposal was shelved until a later date.
Stephanie De La Torre, Vice President of Fullerton California Republican Assembly, walks in front of the Ginger Shattuck Eduation Center where the La Mirada / Norwalk School Board was to consider a Planned Parenthood on the John Glen High School campus in Norwalk, California before the proposal was shelved until a later date.

Steve Marquez

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