DON'T DERAIL PROGRESS IN CALIFORNIA.

Byline: Cathy Unger Local View

AS Californians, we need to realize what is at stake in the current effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis.

The recall is a wasteful effort derived from partisan politics that is diverting attention from the problems of the state and instead pointing fingers. We need the leaders we elected last November to focus on serving their communities and stop trying to place blame.

With social service providers now having to cut back and lay off staff, we can only imagine what budgets would look like if an ultraconservative from the pro-recall camp were to replace the governor.

This is partisan politics at its worst.

A small group of conservatives started this recall as an attempt to hijack the governor's office and lead California down a right-wing path, which would roll back progress made in everything from women's access to abortion and contraceptives to gun control, affirmative action and the environment.

This special election isn't about the candidates or about choosing Gov. Gray Davis over an alternate. This recall is about choosing which direction we want to take California. Do we want to continue with our progressive spirit - or validate an attempted right-wing coup with an inexperienced replacement leading us down an unknown, unproven path?

The man who started the recall effort, extreme right-wing Congressman Darrell Issa, R-Vista, may have dropped out, but with over a hundred candidates, most of them unknowns or unable to articulate their position on the issues facing California, Issa's ilk taking over the Governor's Office is a frightening possibility. With the way the recall is set up, as little as 20 percent of Californians could decide who our next governor will be.

Dare I ask which 20 percent will decide for the rest of us?

Recall backers are trying to blame Davis for everything under the sun. Forty-seven states and the federal government have budget deficits caused by a national recession. Davis cannot be blamed for the dot-com bubble bursting, terrorist attacks, corporate crooks undermining investor confidence or the war in Iraq. There are many variables responsible for our fiscal problems. To place the blame squarely on the governor's shoulders is unfair.

Planned Parenthood is one of the many service agencies that must tighten its fiscal belt. To lose Davis to an obscure provision in the state Constitution would be disastrous for the women, men and families who count on the vital family planning services provided by their local Planned Parenthood group.

We cannot underestimate the influence the governor has on family planning. Past lessons are clear: If we allow conservative, anti-choice officials, such as those who started this recall effort, to take over Sacramento and cut family-planning services, we will pay an even greater price down the road.

California has come a long way in the 20 years since George Deukmejian was governor. Deukmejian cut funding for family-planning services twice during his administration, and at that time California experienced some of its highest rates of teen pregnancy on record.

Today, because of Davis' support of family-planning services, California's teen pregnancy rate is below the national average for the first time in 15 years, and the numbers reflect a drop in rates across all ethnicities. Davis has done more to protect women's right to choose and promote access to safe, quality reproductive health-care services than any other governor in California history.

As of now, there is no other candidate who has the record, the experience and proven results of working with Californians to improve access to family-planning services. Thanks to Davis, California is seen as a national leader in reproductive rights. The women and families of California cannot afford to take a chance on an unproven candidate who could be hostile to women and choice.

The recall effort is an unfair attack on our governor and a waste of taxpayers' money. The time is now to come together, to put partisan politics aside and focus on the issues at hand. We need to encourage our elected officials to stay focused on the problem, not to get distracted, and to start serving the public interest once again.

California is losing vital social services, and the people's needs won't disappear like tax dollars wasted on a recall. The state needs leaders, and partisan politicians are not the answer.