♪ announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 news. kristen: hi. you are watching "getting answers." may is asian american pacific islander month, and meta is supporting businesses in a new way. we will hear from the bay area marketing executive that started meta prosper. we will speak with the director of east meets west, a journey along the silk road with a legendary national geographic photographer.

more on the leaked supreme court roe v. wade decision. one angle often not explored is the potential impact striking it down could have on families looking to adopt. a uc hastings law professor and adoptive mother has just released a powerful new essay on her concerns based on her experience. professor, thank you for joining us. >> good afternoon. one common argument you hear is if abortions were banned, there would be more births and more babies to adopt, but what do you think? >> anyone who has experience adoption, and i am an adoptive mom, who knows about the market

and how it works should be worried about limiting abortion rights. the reason is as follows, generally speaking, people struggling with unwanted pregnancies have hard choices to make about whether to parent, and often they are not in a position to parent, and whether they will carry the pregnancy to term. if someone terminates a pregnancy it is because they cannot carry it to term, a secret from family, and abusive partner, their mom, teenagers living at home. there can be a lot of reasons why they cannot carry the pregnancy to term. there may be situations that are unhealthy, smoking, alcohol, controlled substances. there could be a lot of reasons about. if somebody is looking to place their child in adoption, an

extremely hard decision to make, because you cannot parent yourself, you will have an interview with the social worker that will require you to disclose facts about your pregnant see that make it difficult face your child. we met many prospective adoptive parents worried about backgrounds and things like that . i can see how the lack of trust and honesty diminishing further would damage the possibility to trust each other in a process that relies on empathy and the ability to tell each other things way they are, and this worries me a great deal. kristen: this is a picture of you and your beautiful son. when i hear you talk, i think, did you form some of these opinions based on your own journey? where these things your son's birth mother experienced? >> of course the birthparents of

our amazing son are wonderful people, and the tribulations and difficulties are theirs to tell, and it's not a story to share here or anywhere else, but we adopted our son in a state that is hostile to abortion, and it is hard to think that does not play a role -- i remember driving to pick up our son from the hospital and being surrounded by billboards demonizing abortion and talking about how bad it is. i'm pretty sure you can't live in a place like that and think you have options. and consider that birthparents already have options limited, birthparents in the bargaining with adoptive parents are limited by the fact that -- let's face it -- this is about economic constraints, about much younger than the prospective adoptive parents, so there is so

much out of balance that taking away a meaningful choice makes it more so. when i look at my son, i am thinking, i am so glad he is in the world. kristen: professor, in your essay, and this stood out, you have wrote, "i am a static the world is blessed by my son, a star boy, funny, multitalented, spirited, lively," and some people would ask is that why he needed to be born, had to be born? >> i am delighted he is in the world. he is the light of my life. often the conversation about abortion is about this abstraction about when life begins, and if the conversation was about when life begins, there would be more effort on the conservative side the map to

support these lives after they were born, so it seems like it happened so long as it is in utero, no options, no affordable health care, no high-quality educational options that they can afford -- just not a situation conducive to nurturing that precious life afterwards, and that is what worries me about the disingenuousness about this philosophical was does life begin thing. kristen: in terms of the kristen: kristen: support for the birth mother -- kristen: in terms of support for the birth mother, when you see those billboards that demonize, may be the mother will internalize it and think she has done something awful for getting pregnant and two, giving up her child, and i can only think that afterward she needs mental health support. is that available? >> any choice about

parenting/non-parenting is false. it is hard to talk about these pregnancies, caring it to term bond with your child, place them . it will be different for different people. we need support in that situation. this is another thing i flagged in the essay, a lot of the pro-abortion pro-choice side is about less -- women who are experiencing an unwanted pregnancy, let's tell them to move on with their lives. if the right-wingers were genuine, they would put the same effort in putting birth -- so they can get their lives on track. i'm not just talking about conversations with a social worker, which in cases of adoptions by private agencies, good, conscientious, ethical people, but limited because the

government is not supporting it -- college money, jobs, really help somebody who has experienced the disrupting event in their life get their lives back on track. let's facilitate that. if the conversation is not about that, it's not so much defending life, something else, punishing women -- kristen: i will ask you to take on your mom hat and put on the ball professor had, going back to the confirmation hearings, the supreme court in this possible impending decision. in the confirmation hearings, the newest justices said roe v. wade was law, but justice alito says it is not in the reasoning is flawed. is it or is it not? help us to at that. >> i think it is hard to talk about the rhetoric of the decision without the politics

behind it. we know the last appointments of the supreme court were appointed under the assumption of what was going on, question that was in the confirmation hearing from a variety of perspectives. the question whether rights have to be spelled out in the constitution or whether they can be implied from other rights is what justice alito's draft seems to revolve around. if the right is not enshrined in the constitution as a right to abortion, then it is not a real right. this throws into question other things that people consider essential living in a society that includes everybody that are not spelled out in the constitution because the constitution was written in the 18 century without the sensibility, values, and technologies we now have. it reflects those positions. any things that we take for granted in our precious are not enshrined in the constitution and now endangered if this decision indeed, becomes law.

kristen: this is the last question. i have to go. if roe v. wade is struck down, it means it is kicked back to the states and the states will decide, but does the supreme court have the ability if the right case came up to be able to ban abortion throughout the country? >> so the issue with constitutional rights is the supreme court can set a minimum for rights. you can get into a state that only offers you the bare minimum , we have seen that in various states with legislation that goes into effect this decision becomes law, then states will give you the platinum package. i suspect that states like california, looking at codifying the right to abortion, offering these enhanced rights will be a destination for people who have to travel farther to make a choice that was more easily available to them before.

kristen: uc hastings and ball professor and adoptive mother, -- law professor and adoptive mother. thank you. coming up next, a marketing executive that help

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kristen: may is asian-american and pacific islander heritage month. meta is launching a program to launch businesses, meta prosper, content, training resources in six different languages on instagram and facebook. joining us now is the global head of marketing.

thank you for being with us today. chief operating officer sheryl sandberg said the pandemic was a driving force in the creation of meta prosper. can you talk about that? >> yeah, absolutely. as we have been tracking the pandemic, asian-american/pacific islander small businesses have then affected, targeted and attacks, covered widely, and a strong percentage believe they will not survive past this year because of those attacks and the xenophobia cast upon him. --them. we built a program to help them succeed. kristen: i understand you are creating communities on social platforms, right, but what are

the tools that meta prosper offers? >> absolutely, what we noticed last year during asian-american/pacific islander heritage month, there was a heavy appetite for trainings and language. my mother is from the philippines, so i thought what if we created content for that? how would her, her family, and friends start businesses because they have the? we are translating all content specifically to support small businesses in six languages. and, we will be offering -- kristen: in chinese and indian? >> that's right. kristen: in addition to that support, you offer businesses training with gold house -- that

is a collective, non-profit of asian-american/pacific islander leaders with a lot of knowledge. what kind of training? >> it is focused on digitizing business in the 21st century. how did use programs and platforms like meta to scale your business to reach new audiences, and facilitate community safety dumpsters, out to people -- don't just reach out to people and engage with them, it is also important business skills that we want to make sure are accessible to the community. kristen: why is starting meta prosper so important to you? >> my grandparents were small business owners in san francisco, a dry-cleaning business. after they were let out of the internment camps in the 1940's, before that, they were

successful farmers in central california, so running a dry-cleaning business, one of the things i remember asking my grandfather before he passed away was what did you wish you had as your business, and you always wish he wished he had more of him to stand on street corners and bring customers in. i wish we had that technology to give to businesses like my grandparents and many other grandparents and parents as well. it is so important to me. it is a personal cause. being asian-american, i want to make more change and make it tangible, material, and meta prosper is that outcome. kristen: essentially you are creating online villages,, right, so fantastic. where can people learn more? >> instagram.com\metaprosper.

we encourage you to send us messages and let us know how we are doing. as we are building communitwo-w. let us know what you want more of, because we are here for you. kristen: thank you so much. nice to meet you. >> thank you so much. good to meet you. kristen: next, the producer of a new documentary

kristen: california is often described as a place where east meets west, also the name of the new documentary series just in time for this asian-american/pacific islander heritage month. it takes viewers along the silk road through the camera lens of a national geographic photographer. ♪

>> when i first got the idea to do the marco polo route, i wanted to do it for the sheer adventure of it. ♪ i started with an open mind and decided i was going to use his book like my guidebook and travel the route and make up my own mind as to whether he made it or not. kristen: from venice to shangri-la to the great law, his work and adventure is the focus of this non-part series produced by a former cnn anchor and native. he joins us now from where the marco polo story begins, in venice. good evening. hello. hello.

>> good evening, yes, nine hours ahead of you in venice, the beginning of the silk road from west to east, and he has devoted his life to following the greatest explorers who traveled along the silk road. marco polo, you saw the trailer to our first episode there. the greatest overland explorer. and michael also followed china's greatest admiral along the so-called maritime silk road. that is a big, big part of our series traveling around and retracing the footsteps of these great explorers. kristen: ok, let us hear from michael himself. michael: we are all environmentalists. and of course, i am very concerned about the environment and protecting what we have

here. and telling stories about the far east, i can tell you that much of what i have photographs you can't shoot again. kristen: wow. michael, people who know him know he is an icon who has captured some of the worlds most memorable images of the far east. people know he has 2 million followers on instagram. what they don't know is what he touched on their, thr soe much of what he captured has changed --there, that so much of what he captured is change. can you touch on that? >> absolutely. michael is one of the greatest photographers of all time, legendary storyteller for national geographic. he is an ambassador for net geo to eliminate and -- national

geographic to illuminate our world. he captured so much of what sadly is disappearing, so much along the silk road, and the has devoted his -- he has devoted his career helping to advance that mission of preserving what once was, and he is always looking for those things that we are taking for rented and -- taking for granted and calling all of us to do our part in conserving and preserving what we have, which is the one shared planet. kristen: what to you is the most important about sharing the stories of east and west and bridging the understanding through looking at the experience via both perspectives? why is that important? >> well, i think when you look

at those two explorers, michael likes to say that if marco polo was alive today he would be an national geographic photographer or writer, showing, presenting the world just as marco polo did, helping the west understand the east, and in this day and age, we are going through misunderstanding, division, polarization, fragmentation, and whatever we can do to educate, inform, help people, people to people exchange and learn about each other's history and culture and way of life, that is a good thing. kristen: yeah, and i mean there is so much here to discover. sad to say that i actually did not know about the admiral in his travels and how it is

expeditions, just like marco polo's expeditions, changed to europe in so many ways, it caused prominent change in china in the western world, that this is fantastic. also, preview photography buffs, the series contains a master class from michael, right? >> indeed. michael has a huge following on instagram, around 1.8 one million fans, and you can see for yourself on instagram and on facebook, his photos show his body of work over the course of 40 years, and not only do people have a chance to appreciate what he has captured along the silk road and the facts, figures, and history, but people have a chance to learn from the master himself. in this day and age, we all have smartphones and are taking

pictures, so when episode is indeed a master class from the master, people learning about the way in which michael is using lighting and composition and all these other secrets of the trade. kristen: well, yeah, that is great, i am glad he's sharing the secrets because he is terrific. there is another local type. check it out. the website is eas

i had no idea how much i wamy case was worth. c call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ congratulations on east meets west. thank you so much for joining us on this interactive show. we will be here every weekday at 3:00 on there, on livestream

answer your questions. world news tonight is next. have a great day. ♪ tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. new reports on the unprecedented leak from the supreme court. the future of roe versus wade. also tonight, the interest rate hike. what this means for americans from credit cards to your mortgages. first tonight, the demonstrations on both sides of the abortion issue across this country. 26 states expected to quickly ban abortion if the court strikes down roe verve sid wade. and tonight, 13 states with so-called trigger laws that would ban abortion immediately. tonight, president biden's new warning that this could go well beyond roe versus wade. what he said about former president trump's maga movement. and tonight, the investigation into who was behind this leak. rachel scott and terry moran both