ESPERANSA PROJECT - VOTER GUIDE NO. 2
FOR THE OFFICE OF SENATOR - NEW CANDIDATES
The following candidates are recommended:
Michelle Hope Taitano
Adonis Mendiola
Glenn Leon Guerrero
Roland Blas
Nerissa Underwood
Will Castro
Valentino Perez
Mary Camacho Torres
Frank Ungacta Jr.
As per our Voter Guide No. 1, we were able to examine the voting records of current and former senators to get beyond what they say to what they actually DO legislatively when dealing with the issue of abortion.
For candidates without a voting record, we must rely on what they tell us. Fortunately, the organization Vote Smart Guam has already done most of the work for us. The group’s Facebook Page can be found here and its website here.
Vote Smart’s “Smart Match” module asks a series of questions and then ranks the candidates based on the answers you have in common with their answers to the same questions. After taking the quiz yourself you will be able to see the candidates’ answers.
[A recommendation to Vote Smart Guam: Please make it possible to go back and review the candidates’ answers without having to take the quiz over again.]
One of the questions is: Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? Not all of the candidates have taken the quiz, but as of today, 10/9/14, these are the results for the candidates who have responded thus far and are not current or former senators (addressed separately in Voter Guide No. 1):
Pro-Choice
Derick Hills
Felix Benavente
Pro-Life
Michelle Hope Taitano
Adonis Mendiola
Glenn Leon Guerrero
Roland Blas
Nerissa Underwood
Will Castro
Valentino Perez
Mary Camacho Torres
Frank Ungacta Jr.
New Candidates who have NOT yet provided answers to the Smart Match Questions:
Hope Cristobal
James Espaldon (Espaldon is a former senator but for now we are including him with the new candidates since he does not have a voting record on abortion related legislation.)
Rodney Cruz
There were also some curious answers from some current and past senators:
Senator Barnes answered PRO-CHOICE even though her voting record shows PRO-LIFE. However, an examination of the Voting Sheet for the recently passed Bill 195-32, requiring normal medical care for children who survive abortion (instead of killing them or leaving them to die) shows that she passed twice on the vote before eventually voting in favor of providing medical care to such a child. Normally passing on a vote means that a senator wants to end up voting with the majority regardless of the outcome or wishes to cast the deciding vote if there is a tie. So, while based on her yes votes for pro-life legislation we are willing to give her a thumbs up, her plain statement on Vote Smart Guam that she is PRO-CHOICE and her passing twice on a bill that would determine whether a living child should receive care or not, causes us to put her in the questionable column.
Just as curious is Senator Tom Ada’s selection of PRO-LIFE (on Vote Smart Guam). Senator Ada openly testified AGAINST Bill 52-31, the informed consent for abortion bill, and also voted against it. He also voted NO on Bill 409-31, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. As mentioned in Voting Guide No. 1 the bill needed amending to comport with Guam law, but there was no attempt to amend the bill on the floor, so we have to assume that those who voted NO simply did not want it to pass. (The bill would have allowed the prosecution of a person who harmed or killed an unborn child in the event of an attack on the mother.)
Former Senator Guthertz also chose the PRO-LIFE answer, however she also voted NO on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. And though she eventually voted yes on Bill 52-31, the informed consent law, she is on record justifying the legislature’s lack of action on its predecessor (Bill 54-30), and opposing the special session the governor was forced to call to get the legislature to act on Bill 52-31 before the term expired.
As we can see, it is very difficult to determine where candidates really stand on this issue. The only sure way to know is if a senator has personally advanced pro-life legislation (as opposed to just voting for it), or if a candidate has made the advancement of pro-life legislation a central part of his or her platform. From our perspective, NO candidate has made PRO-LIFE a central part of his or her platform, and of the current crop of senatorial candidates who are or have been lawmakers, only two candidates have initiated or advanced pro-life legislation:
Senator Dennis Rodriguez, Jr.: Bills 52-31 and 193-32
Senator Frank Aguon, Jr.: Bill 195-32
(See Voter Guide No. 1 for information on these bills).
In the 2010 election, Esperansa heavily opposed Senator Frank Aguon, Jr. because of his lack of action on two pro-life bills which were assigned to his committee in the 30th Guam Legislature. However, in the 32nd Guam Legislature, Senator Aguon publicly committed to a pro-life effort and introduced and defended Bill 195-32. We mention this as evidence that Esperansa is non-partisan and will promote any candidate who advances pro-life legislation.
The “I’m personally opposed, but…” position
Also, a special note as regards former Senator James Espaldon. As a candidate for Lt. Governor in 2010, Senator Espaldon stated the following at a debate held at UOG:
“My personal feeling on this whole thing is, I’m against abortion. I mean, if it came to a decision that I had to make personally, the answer will be, ‘let’s have a child.’ However, that being said, I do believe that people have to come to terms with those kind of decisions by themselves and I think the judgment anyone passes is not a fair judgment because I think the judgment really is between the persons involved, really the mother, the father, and their maker. I think, in other words, I know there will be a lot of people upset with me for saying this, and maybe even my partner (Lt. Gov. Mike Cruz) because I know he’s very firm in terms of abortion, but me, I think there is a right to choose. I think there should be a right to choose. Not that I’m for it. Not that I would ever do it myself. Not that I would advocate for it. But again, I think the decision that made that is made is a decision that is very personal and belongs to the person making that choice and is a decision that is made between she and her maker."
We will refrain from labeling former Senator Espaldon “pro-choice” at this point. This statement was made four years ago and maybe he has modified his position. He has a chance to clarify his position on Vote Smart Guam, or he is welcome, as are all the other candidates, to send us* an update or a clarification of his/their positions.
However, Senator Espaldon’s 2010 statement is useful in illustrating what Esperansa considers “useless”. From our perspective, what a candidate personally feels or believes has no place in the political arena if that belief is excluded from how he or she will act legislatively.
This is the “I’m personally opposed, but…” position. While politicians are certainly welcome to their personal beliefs, we do not elect them for what they privately believe but for what they publicly promise to do. If personal beliefs will play no part in public policy decisions - which is what the “I’m personally opposed, but…” position actually means, then there is no point in mentioning what one privately believes, other than, of course, to deflect criticism and to refrain from taking a stand.
We are looking for candidates who will clearly state what they will or will not do once in office.
*Candidates may post on our Facebook Page or send an email to esperansaproject@gmail.com