The Center held its monthly Community Coalition Breakfast on Sept. 16, and focused on the connections between the GLBT equal rights movement and the reproductive choice movement. Featured speakers included Shaun Travers, a member of the board of directors of The Center and San Diego’s Planned Parenthood chapter; Mary Cruz, a member of the board of directors for the American Civil Liberties Union; and Vince Hall, communications director for Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside counties.

Travers, who serves as UCSD’s LGBT Resource Center director, outlined his early involvement in the pro-choice movement and when he first realized GLBT rights were synonymous with reproductive rights. He said the realization came while he was working for a Planned Parenthood clinic in College Station, Texas, which provided abortion services. He eventually served as a board member there before moving to San Diego and serving on Planned Parenthood’s local board.

“LGBT rights and reproductive rights are connected. When one is threatened the other is threatened, even if the connection may not be obvious. We must fight for them both,” said Travers.

In May of 2003, Travers traveled to New York City to participate in a three-day roundtable discussion, where over 25 GLBT liberationists and reproductive justice advocates convened from across the country to discuss the connections between reproductive rights and GLBT rights equality. The result of these discussions became an informative 22-page document published by New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center entitled, “Causes in Common: Reproductive Rights & LGBT Liberation.”

“Causes in Common” overviews various issues including marriage, welfare, the impact of racism, private health care, barriers to reproductive services and the erosion of Roe v. Wade – the landmark case that legalized abortion in the U.S.

Travers said the meetings convinced him that GLBT people’s ability to have intimate, sexual relationships is unarguably built on the right to privacy clearly articulated in the Roe v. Wade decision. He added that transgender people’s access to their bodies and the surgeries they undergo are fundamentally connected to the power that women have to control their reproductive choices.

“Reproduction and sexuality are profoundly and intimately related aspects of human experience. Reproduction is a choice that evolves out of sexuality, not an unavoidable consequence of sexuality,” he said. “Individual human autonomy in the conduct of our sexual lives is integral to our liberty.”

Cruz, who serves on the national Planned Parenthood board of directors, described the struggles of her daughter’s best friend, who chose to forgo having an abortion against her mother’s wishes.

“The bottom line was her mother was going to force her to have an abortion. She did not want to have an abortion. She wanted to have that child,” Cruz said. “It’s a matter of choice and a matter of making your own decisions. In that case her mother did not make the decision that she herself wanted.”

Hall discussed Proposition 73, which will appear on November’s ballot and seeks to amend California’s constitution to ban abortions for teenagers until 48 hours after a physician notifies the teen’s parents. The only exceptions would be in the cases of medical emergencies, parental waiver or court approval. Hall attacked San Diego Reader publisher Jim Holman for donating $1.5 million in support of the proposition, and urged the audience to vote against the measure.

“Without Jim Holman’s check there would be no Proposition 73. So, all over the state of California, hundreds of people are spending a year of their lives campaigning to educate the public as to why they should vote no on Prop 73,” Hall said. “Millions of dollars that could be going into moving our country forward are instead being diverted to prevent our state from taking a giant step backward – all because of the efforts and the check of one person.”

If passed, Proposition 73 would institute judicial bypass – which grants the ultimate decision of whether or not to have an abortion to a judge rather than through a woman – in California. It would also require doctors to notify parents when a teen seeks an abortion.

Travers said judicial bypass is to be avoided. “Think about it: The teen is already terrified she’s pregnant. Her family might be having serious problems, or her parents might be abusive, or a relative may even have caused the pregnancy. She’s not going to be marching up to a judge in a crowded courthouse,” said Travers. “She doesn’t need a judge; she needs a counselor. I want young women to be able to make safe, healthy choices for themselves, especially if they cannot talk to their parents.”

According to the Campaign for Teen Safety, which opposes Prop 73, the most recent field poll numbers have voters locked in a dead heat over the proposition, with 45 percent siding each way. In August, a Public Policy Institute of California poll found that 48 percent of likely voters were opposed to the proposition, 44 percent in favor and 8 percent undecided.