Cold Case Turns
Seven Years
Good in
the Hood
Family ties to break
silence on murder
Celebrating our
multicultural
neighborhoods
See Local News, page 3
‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVII • Number 25
See Photo Essay,
pages 8 and 9
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • June 27, 2018
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Representatives from five local organizations opposed to new federal sexual education restrictions show their solidarity against the move outside the offices of
Planned Parenthood on Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard. The group includes officials from Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, the Latino Network, Self
Enhancement Inc., the Native Youth and Family Center, and Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland.
Advocates fight
new rule and
brace for cuts
b everly C orbell
t he p ortlanD o bserver
Young people in communities of color in the
Portland metro area will suffer more unwanted
pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases if
the Trump Administration is successful in a new
policy requiring abstinence as the only option for
discussion in birth control and STD prevention
programs receiving federal Title X grants.
Several organizations in Multnomah County
that work with minority communities on family
planning and preventative sexual health services,
including Planned Parenthood, the Latino Net-
work, and Self Enhancement, Inc., are bracing
for the impacts, while challenging the decision.
Scientific studies and past results show that
by
Sex Ed
on the
Line
unplanned pregnancies among teens will go up
as well as STDs if the new federal rules for the
grants are upheld, preventing service providers
from discussing the full range of sexual heath
options available, including birth control and le-
gal access to abortion.
Lisa Saunders, manager of strategic develop-
ments at Self Enhancement, Inc., serving Port-
land’s black community, said her organization
has received $90,000 per year from county Title
X grants for the past three years, and a portion
was used to hire Marlo Williams to conduct sum-
mer age-appropriate sex education programs for
both children and their parents. If SEI’s fund-
ing is cut, Williams will lose her job and sci-
ence-based sex education from the organization
will cease.
“During the summer Marlo taught 140 kids in
six weeks, giving them a wide range of informa-
tion, and also had classes for parents,” Saunders
said. “She has given them the platform and the
tools they need to navigate that conversation and
C ontinueD on p age 16