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INDEX
VOL. 47, NO. 159
14 PAGES
CLEVELAND
TIES SERIES
SPORTS, 1B
HONOLULU — A dramatic
drop in the number of abortions
performed in Hawaii over a recent
five-year period has health and
education experts wondering what
caused the change.
The number of terminated preg-
nancies fell nearly 30 percent in
Hawaii from 2010 to 2014, rep-
resenting the greatest abortion
decline in the nation. That decline
to 2,147 abortions in 2014 hap-
pened as the state’s historically
high teen pregnancy rate —Hawaii
was 10th in the nation for teen
pregnancies in 2013 — has been
falling.
Changes to Hawaii’s sex educa-
tion policies have played a role in
reducing the number of unwanted
pregnancies and the abortions that
sometimes follow, agencies like
Planned Parenthood say.
“There was, starting in 2010, a
lot of new teen pregnancy edu-
cation going on in both school
and non-school settings using evi-
dence-based curricula,” said Judith
Clark, executive director of Hawaii
Youth Services Network. “I would
certainly hope those efforts reduced
the incidents of abortions by reduc-
ing the rate of pregnancies.”
But others attribute the decline
in abortion to the easier access to
emergency contraception, which
became available to teenagers as
young as 14 without parental per-
mission in 2013.
“It’s the availability of the morn-
ing-after pill,” said Rep. Bob
McDermott, a Republican who
believes most sex education pro-
grams in Hawaii encourage teens
to have sex. “The need for surgical
abortions is diminished.”
Health experts say there could
be a variety of explanations for
the abortion decline, including
Hawaii residents’ high rate of use
of long-acting contraception meth-
ods such as intrauterine devices
or hormonal implants. Less than
20 percent of abortions in Hawaii
are performed on teens, and the
majority of procedures are carried
out on 20 to 29-year-olds, said Dr.
Donald Hayes, epidemiologist with
the Hawaii Department of Health.
But some are concerned that a
recent policy change by Hawaii’s
Board of Education to require
parental consent for students
to participate in sexual health
Hawaii’s
abortion drop
coincides with
sex education
changes
BY CATHY BUSSEWITZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rare hawskbill turtle
breeding season begins
Over thenext severalmonths,
the Big Island is expected to
have several visitors from the
sea. Chances are, though, these
visitors won’t be seen by many.
Nesting season for the rare
hawskbill turtle began last
month and continues through
December. The species is far
less common than its relative
the green sea turtle, as its pop-
ulation has been decimated
by overhunting. But recovery
efforts here persist.
“They’re extremely, extreme-
ly rare, and a lot of people
don’t even know about them,”
said Lauren Kurpita, project
coordinator for the Hawksbill
Recovery Project. “It’s an
amazing species that hopefully
we can keep on protecting.”
The recovery project, based
out of Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park, began in 1989
and concentrates its work
around nesting season.
It’s the only time that hawks-
bill turtles come ashore. Unlike
honu, which frequently come
to beaches to bask, hawkbills
spend their entire lives in the
water.
“The only time they come on
land is to nest,” Kurpita said.
Males do not come ashore at
all.
Hawksbill nesting takes
place at night.
“The only reason we know
that is because we’re out
there monitoring,” Kurpita
said. Monitoring takes place
from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Project
volunteers also walk the beach-
es during the day to check for
the tracks of turtles that have
come ashore during the night.
BY IVYASHE
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
LEFT: Orion Mount, 2, helps wash his
parent’s car at a car wash Saturday at Grace
Community Church on Palani Road; Destiny
Jarrett Stroud, left, and Hadley Beach
wave to passing motorists on Palani Road
in attempts to lure them to a the free car
wash with donations accepted to fund Grace
Community Church’s food basket program.
PHOTOS BY LAURA SHIMABUKU/
WEST HAWAII TODAY
SEE
ABORTION
PAGE 5A
A female hawksbill turtle returns to the ocean after laying eggs.
LAUREN KURPITA/
SPECIAL TO
WEST HAWAII TODAY
SEE
HAWKSBILL
PAGE 5A
