Increasing evidence continues to point to the Governor of Guam as the wizard behind the curtain in the ACLU lawsuit. Esperansa recently acquired copies of letters authorizing Drs. Kaneshiro and Raidoo, the two Plaintiffs in the suit, to practice medicine on Guam for an odd amount of time, suggesting that the reason for the acquisition of their medical licenses was for the purpose of filing the suit. Follow the tell-tale timeline.
SEE RELATED POST HERE
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On January 28, 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), filed a lawsuit in in the U.S. District Court of Guam on behalf of two Hawaii-based doctors. The suit claimed that two Guam laws prohibited Guam women form procuring abortions locally and named Guam's Attorney General and others as Defendants.
Coming as it did after Governor Leon Guerrero very publicly failed to find a doctor willing to come to Guam to do abortions after two years of searching, there is reason to believe that the Governor, via Jayne Flores, Leon Guerrero's director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs, had something to do with initiating the suit. Recently procured documents certainly point in that direction.
In June of 2019, Jayne Flores and Dr. Bliss Kaneshiro, one of the two Hawaii-based doctors named as a Plaintiffs in the suit, engaged in a series of email communications aimed at bringing an abortion provider to Guam:
Jun. 24, 2019 at 10:17 AM. Situation on Guam. Jayne Flores to Dr. Bliss Kaneshiro. Hafa Adai Dr. Kaneshiro, I am the director of the Bureau of Women’s Affairs and am coordinating the effort to bring a doctor (or doctors on a rotational basis) to Guam willing to help our women (and unfortunately some girls) who have a choice to make. Can you please give me a call at your earliest convenience. I hope to hear from you soon. Si Yu’os Ma’ase. Jayne Flores
Jun. 25, 2019 at 1:10 PM. Situation on Guam. Bliss Kaneshiro to Jayne Flores. Forgot to give you my cell phone, it’s (redacted). Bliss. Bliss Kaneshiro MD, MPH, FACOG, Professor, Director of the Family Planning Fellowship and Family Planning Division, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women’s Health, University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine
NOTE: Apparently Kaneshiro and Flores had a phone conversation. The following email communication gives us a hint as to what that phone conversation was about.
Jun. 25, 2019 at 1:19 PM. Connecting you to Planned Parenthood. Bliss Kaneshiro to Deborah Nucatola and Jayne Flores. Jayne, I’m connecting you to Deb Nucatola, the medical director of the PP clinics in Hawaii. She is cc’ed on this email and is aware of the lack of an abortion provider in Guam. Bliss.
Jun. 25, 2019 at 1:23PM. Deborah Nucatola to Bliss Kaneshiro, Jayne Flores, and Deighton Kavarne. Hi Jayne! Nice to meet you virtually! I do believe you have been in contact with staff at our Patient Access Center. Our Area Service Director, Deighton Kavarne, was planning to reach out to you by phone. I’m not sure if you have already spoke but to close the loop I’m cc’ing him on this email. And FYI, we have been discussing the need in Guam for several months now and are eager to speak with you to see how we might be able to meet the need. Deborah Nucatola, MD, Medical Director, Hawaii, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands, Medical Director, Indiana and Kentucky, Planned Parenthood of Indian and Kentucky.
NOTE: Apparently Jayne Flores had made contact with Planned Parenthood several months before Flores contacted Kaneshiro in June 2019: "...we have been discussing the need in Guam for several months now and are eager to speak with you to see how we might be able to meet the need."
Jun. 25, 2019 at 2:49 PM. Connecting you to Planned Parenthood. Jayne Flores to Deborah Nucatola, Bliss Kaneshiro, Deighton Kavarne, Anita Arriola, Dr. Ellen Bez. Hafa Adai Deborah (and Deighton)! Thank you for reaching out to us here on Guam. Yes, we are in need of abortion services for our women (and unfortunately some pre-teens). We are also in great need of the other services Planned Parenthood provides (free birth control, STD/HIV testing. HPV vaccines, cancer screening, family planning, etc.) We are currently trying to quietly survey clinics on Guam that would allow visiting physicians to perform surgical abortions. Another option if PP wanted to open a clinic here, is that we do have a medical clinic that recently closed. Would there be a possibility that PP would be interested in leasing this space to set up its own clinic? I would describe the atmosphere on our island, with its 1650,000 population that is majority Catholics, as initially hostile toward this issue. However, over half of the voting public cast ballots in favor our our first female governor, Maga’haga Lourdes Leon Guerrero, in November 2018 despite her openly pro-choice stance. So there is hope.Please let us know if you have suggestions, or options for us. We are grateful for your help and any advice you can give us. Si Yu’os Ma’ase. Jayne Flores
NOTE: Flores copies Attorney Anita Arriola and Dr. Ellen Bez. Both Arriola and Bez are open pro-aborts. The both testified against a bill in 2013 that would mandate providing normal medical care for children who survive a failed abortion. And Bez recently volunteered a long letter to the editor about her support of the ACLU suit.
Jun. 25, 2019 at 2:50pm. Situation on Guam. Jayne Flores to Bliss Kaneshiro. Thank you Dr. Bliss. I really appreciate your reaching out to me. I just sent an email to Deborah and Deighton. Thank you for connecting us. I look forward to speaking with you at our meeting later this week. Jayne.
NOTE: There is no record of the "meeting later this week." Seven (7) months pass by.
Feb. 6, 2020 at 1:40pm. Possible UOG collaboration with UH research project. Jayne Flores to Shandhini Raidoo, Bliss Kaneshiro, and Dr. John Rivera. Hafa Adai Drs. Shandhini and Bliss from UH, and Dr. John from UOG. Dr. Shandhini and Dr. Bliss, allow me to introduce, through email. Dr. John Rivera, Program Chair of the Public Administration program at the University of Guam. His Master of Public Administration students often assist with research issues. I think his UOG program would be a great partner for your research project on abortion attitudes on Guam. I spoke briefly with Dr. Rivera about your intent to find a local partner for the project, his email address is cc:d above. Good luck with the project! Si Yu’os Ma’ase, Jayne Flores.
NOTE: This is the first communication showing the name "Shandhini Raidoo," who, in January 2021, will become of the two Plaintiff's in the ACLU suit.
Feb. 17, 2020 at 10:15 AM. Possible UOG collaboration with UH research project. Shandhini Raidoo to Mr. John Rivera, Jayne Flores, Bliss Kaneshiro, Mr. Jesse Quenga. Hi Dr. Rivera. Thank you for your email. We have just submitted our proposal for this project. We are very excited about it and will definitely be in touch with you once we know more about the next steps. Thank you Jayne for this introduction! Thanks, Shandhini. Shandhini Raido, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Family Planning, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health, University of Hawaii John A Burns School of Medicine
SMOKING GUN?
NOTE: All goes quiet for nearly five (5) months. And then suddenly, Drs. Raidoo and Kaneshiro are granted licenses to practice "medicine and surgery" on Guam:
Jul. 15, 2020. Dr. Shandhini Raidoo's application to practice "medicine and surgery" in Guam is approved by the Guam Board of Medical Examiners. Date of expiration of license is Dec. 31, 2021.
Nov. 18, 2020. Dr. Bliss Kaneshiro's application to practice "medicine and surgery" in Guam is approved by the Guam Board of Medical Examiners. Date of expiration of license is Dec. 31, 2021.
NOTE: Even though both Raidoo and Kaneshiro apply for licenses to practice "medicine and surgery" in Guam and are granted those licenses four months apart, both licenses expire exactly on the same day: Dec. 31, 2021. Now why is that?
Pursuant to the Instructions for Application for Medical Licensure, it appears that a license is good for two years (See: CME requirements for renewing a full medical license). That the expiration date of both licenses is Dec. 31, 2021 appears to suggest that the date of expiration was something both doctors asked for, otherwise their licenses would have been up for renewal within two years from the date they were issued.
Jan. 28, 2021. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Vanessa L. Williams on behalf of two Guam-licensed physicians, Drs. Bliss Kaneshiro and Shandhini Raidoo, file suit in the U.S. District Court of Guam against the the Attorney General of Guam and others.
NOTE: The dots aren't hard to connect.
- Upon assuming office, Governor Leon Guerrero, via Jayne Flores, begins a well-publicized search for doctors to come to Guam to perform abortions...since none of Guam's 300-plus doctors are willing to do it.
- Pursuant to this search, Jayne Flores makes contact with Planned Parenthood in Hawaii and apparently attempts to entice PP to come to Guam and set up shop. PP did not appear to be interested (and still doesn't).
- In June of 2019, Flores begins communications with Dr. Bliss Kaneshiro who eventually puts Flores in contact with Dr. Shandhini Raidoo.
- Then everything goes dark until the ACLU lawsuit is filed in January 2021.
- The suit names Kaneshiro and Raidoo as the Plaintiffs, two doctors who apparently have never been to Guam and just as apparently have no interest in coming to Guam and both of whom applied for licenses to practice in Guam for an abbreviated time - perhaps just long enough to see the lawsuit through and provide cover for the person who is actually pulling the levers behind the curtain.
Defendants named in the suit:
LEEVIN TAITANO CAMACHO, in his official capacity as Attorney General of Guam
NATHANIEL BERG, M.D., in his official capacities as Chair of the Guam Board of Medical Examiners and member of the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam
PHILIP FLORES, in his official capacity as Vice-Chair of the Guam Board of Medical Examiners
ARANIA ADOLPHSON, M.D., in her official capacity as member of the Guam Board of Medical Examiners
ANNETTE DAVID, M.D., M.P.H., in her official capacity as member of the Guam Board of Medical Examiners
ANNIE BORDALLO, M.D., in her official capacity as member of the Guam Board of Medical Examiners
ARTHUR SAN AGUSTIN, Director of Public Health and Social Services in his official capacity as member of the Commission on the Healing, Arts of Guam
BERNADETTE S. SANTOS, M.P.A., B.S.N, R.N., Chair of the Board of Nurse Examiners in her official capacity as member of the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam
ANTONIO RAPADAS, D.D.S., Chair of the Board of Examiners for Dentistry, the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam
THOMAS J. CARUSO, B.S.P., Chair of the Board of Examiners for Pharmacy in his official capacity as member of the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam
MAMIE BALAJADIA, ED.D., Chair of the Guam Board of Allied Health Examiners in her official capacity as member of the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam
MARLENE R. SAN NICOLAS, O.D.,her official capacity as member of the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam,
JENNETH QUIAMBAO, Chair of the Board of Cosmetology in her official capacity as member of the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam,
DUSTIN PRINS, D.P.M., the Chief Medical Officer of the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority in his official capacity as member of the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam
THERESA C. ARRIOLA, M.B.A., Director of the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center in her official capacity as member of the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam,
DOE 1, a representative from the Mayors Council of Guam in their official capacity as member o the Commission on the Healing Arts of Guam