Calamity Jayne

Jayne Flores

The Office of the Governor of Guam finally responded to Mr. Lee Webber's Sunshine Reform Act request for correspondence between the Governor, her office, Jayne Flores and the two plaintiffs in the federal ACLU abortion case.  See FOIA Response from Jayne Flores 02-18-2021

Summary

As early as June 2019, the Governor's Office was corresponding with the same two doctors who eventually filed the ACLU  federal case here, and the Governor's daughter and local attorney Anita Arriola were also looped into the correspondence.  While there's no evidence (yet) of correspondence explicitly about the case, discussions did center on the lack of abortion services on Guam and about setting up a clinic. 

The Players (so far):  

• Jayne Flores, Director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs, Government of Guam.
• Bliss Kaneshiro, MD MPH, Professor and Program Director of Family Planning John A. Burns School of Medicine University of Hawai'i. Department of OB/GYN. PLAINTIFF in the ACLU lawsuit in Guam's federal court.
• Shandhini Raidoo, MD, MPH, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, University of Hawai'i.  PLAINTIFF in the ACLU lawsuit in Guam's federal court.
• Dr. Ellen Bez MD, local internist and co-owner of Sagua Mañagu, a local birthing center.  Dr. Bez is the life partner of Dr. Annie Bordallo, a local obstetrician and public supporter of abortion on Guam.
• Mariana Cook-Huynh MD, daughter of the Governor of Guam and a physician at Sagua Mañagu with Dr. Bez and Dr. Bordallo.
• Attorney Anita Arriola, a partner in the Arriola Law Firm on Guam.
• Deighton Kavarne, Planned Parenthood's Area Service Director for Honolulu.
• Deborah Nucatola, Medical Director, Planned Parenthood of Hawaii, Indiana and Kentucky.

There's some indication in the FOIA response that John Rivera PhD, member of Agana Cathedral Basilica Parish and Associate Professor of Public Administration at the University of Guam indicated interest in collaborating with Dr. Kaneshiro and Dr. Raidoo, the eventual plaintiffs in the federal ACLU case, on a project researching "abortion attitudes" on Guam.  

It would be interesting to see the response to a FOIA request regarding correspondence between Government of Guam officials and attorney Vanessa Williams regarding abortion on Guam.

From the FOIA response itself:

Interesting names in the email headers:

Asking about setting up a clinic on Guam:

About the research project with the University of Guam: