Abortion issue brings out the worst in Radnor politics
In this age of social distancing and what I like to call “Textcommunication,” people have had to resort to a variety of methods to “meet.” Some of them are quite effective, but most are a poor substitute for facing someone across a table whether in the kitchen, the dining room or the conference room. Business meetings are particularly troublesome because the normal empathy and affection that comes from family relations (okay, most family relations) is missing from these more formal situations. However, I do expect some level of respect for opposing views.
How naïve. A recent example of a business meeting that soured is the May 11 meeting of the Radnor
Board of Commissioners.
It was open to the public, if sitting in front of your computer and clicking on the YouTube or Zoom app qualifies as “open to the public.” I don’t live in Radnor, but I have friends who do and I was interested in finding out how the commissioners were going to deal with a controversial issue - namely, the fact that Penn Medicine was intent on opening up a medical facility where abortions might be performed.
Everyone knows that abortion is legal, so it wasn’t a question of whether Penn could perform abortions. The fundamental issue was whether it should perform abortions in a highly concentrated area within walking distance of two high schools, Radnor and Archbishop Carroll, and a popular recreational spot where kids often congregate, the Gravity Vault. It is reasonable to assume that even those who support abortion rights might have a problem with a facility performing those terminations right under the eyes of their impressionable children, not to mention the fact that one of those schools is a part of the Philadelphia archdiocese.
You might be saying, “Wow, I had no idea that abortions were going to be performed down the street from two high schools and a popular recreational spot where kids often congregate.” That’s because both Penn Medicine and the board of commissioners have successfully maneuvered the issue into obscurity. I’m not saying that they have deliberately lied to the people of Radnor Township about whether abortions will be performed at the new Penn facility set to open later this month. I’m saying that they have tried to keep the information on the down low, doing their utmost to silence the voices of a very strong, very dedicated opposition.
I will fully admit to not having followed this story from the very beginning, when Penn Medicine sought a zoning variance so that it could open the facility in question. It was apparently a part of a zoning change to a prized section of Radnor real estate known as the Planned Laboratory Office district. I’ve researched a number of earlier articles that discussed the zoning change, as well as the information made available by the board of commissioners, and there was almost no discussion of abortions. That’s not surprising, since it’s such a controversial topic.
And since it is such a controversial subject, those who are in favor of abortion and want those services to be made available in residential areas have learned how to cover up their proposals and agendas in language like “ambulatory care,” which is exactly how the supporters of Penn Medicine were able to get approval for the zoning change. If they had come out and said “we are opening an abortion clinic several hundred feet from two high schools and a popular kid’s hangout,” it’s likely that the proposed changes would have faced significant opposition. Use the word “abortion” and they would have passed with as much ease as a gallstone. Cover that up, and you are assured greater success.
And success is what Penn Medicine and its advocates on the board of commissioners got. The zoning variances were approved, and Penn broke ground on the facility which - as noted before - is set to open this month.
In February, Commissioner Richard Booker received an email from a constituent, asking if he could find out if Penn intended to perform abortions at the new site, located at 145 King of Prussia Road. Booker reached out to the township manager, who sent an inquiry to Penn Medicine. There was no response.
At a public board meeting in March, before the pandemic closed everything down, numerous residents attempted to voice their concerns about the possibility of abortions being performed so close to schools, but the commissioners shut down any discussion and indicated that comments could be made at the next meeting. Then, of course, came the COVID apocalypse.
I didn’t think about the issue for a while, because to be honest, it didn’t touch me in my own backyard. But a friend alerted me to Monday night’s board meeting, which was going to be held virtually. Out of curiosity, I tuned in. What I saw offended me both as a woman, a lawyer and a resident of Delaware County. At the point in the hearing where Commissioner Booker again attempted to force the board to seek clarification from Penn Medicine as to whether it would be performing abortions, he was screamed over, shouted down, and treated in the most disrespectful manner by a chorus of men and women who looked like a deranged version of “The Brady Bunch.” The Zoom screen showed them as they shouted “point of order” and “he doesn’t have a second on his motion” and “stop” and other things I couldn’t entirely understand, but which are memorialized in this YouTube link of the meeting. (
https://youtu.be/cq2di3333Fs?l
ist=PLWSgQZEOk8cWtSffPqinXy
kgq69vqgc6y) Unsurprisingly, the attempt to seek some accountability from Radnor’s new neighbor went down in flames.
But that wasn’t the worst part. In an apparent nod to the many people who had real concerns about the prospect of abortions being performed as “ambulatory services,” board President Jack Larkin deigned to read into the record emails that had been solicited by the board. This was, apparently, its attempt at transparency.
I watched as Larkin read each email, some of them quoting scripture, some of them simply asking questions, some of them making earnest pleas on behalf of a community in which they had long lived and maintained deep ties. He started out reading them in a normal, unobjectionable manner. But as he seemed to realize the content of the messages, a note of disdain filled his voice. He began to describe the punctuation used by each writer, saying “dot, dot, dot” or whatever unique or idiosyncratic grammatical aspect of the email he found interesting.
In doing so, it was obvious that he was trying to diminish the meaning of these good-faith attempts to get answers, and - yes - prevent the community from hosting a de facto abortion clinic.
I thought it was just my imagination, but when I spoke afterwards to the friend who alerted me to the Zoom meeting, she agreed that the whole set up was disrespectful and arrogant.
You can disagree on the topic of abortion, and I know that many find my own beliefs to be abhorrent. You don’t espouse pro life views in print and on the radio and on television for almost two decades without figuring out that in this bluest of blue regions in our sweet commonwealth, you are persona non grata.
But what you cannot do is show disrespect for the people in the community you serve, either by shouting down one of its dulyelected representatives like Richard Booker, or by treating the legitimate concerns of those people with barely concealed disdain because you reject their morals and their values.
The honest thing to do would have been to allow those concerned residents to appear via video conference. It could have been done; we have the technology. More importantly, the board should have taken up, sua sponte, the initiative to get answers from Penn Medicine and not simply allow it to move into the community with little or no accountability. Clearly, it’s something that troubles the people who cared enough to at least try and raise their voices.
I want to add my voice to those men and women who are pushing for answers, since the board of commissioners doesn’t seem to care: Penn Medicine, can you tell us once and for all if abortions will be performed at 145 King of Prussia Road?
Inquiring minds need to know.