Access Of Contraception And Abortion Within The Latina Community

Jones, R. K., & Kooistra, K. (2011). Abortion Incidence and Access to Services In the United States, 2008. Perspectives On Sexual & Reproductive Health, 43(1), 41-50. doi:10.1363/4304111

In 2012, President Obama funded 105 million dollars for Prevention Programs. This program was designed for teens to get better understanding of sexual education, and to help prevent an adolescent from becoming a mother (Siecus, 2012). Prevention programs can help these young girls learn how difficult it is to be a teen parent but also the risks they face when becoming a mother. These adolescents can be at an even higher risk for getting an STI, STD, and HIV/AIDS. They can also pass these sexually transmitted diseases to their babies. Because most Mexican American girls don’t have their parents or doctors to talk to about these horrifying risks prevention programs can help reduce the risks. They will be able to learn about their bodies and how to protect them with condoms or birth control. Mexican American girls may also be embarrassed to talk to their boyfriends about protection, so this is another way that the prevention programs can help, by showing them how to communicate with their partners about the safety’s and precautions. Other preventions don’t necessarily have to be from programs, they can be from anyone or anything. If these adolescents’ parents were more involved and open with their children they can prevent them from going down a very long and hard path. They would be able to explain to them the difficulties and risks they could be facing. Prevention can also be taught within a

Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides healthcare and education to both men and women, having over 650 health centers that provide healthcare to countless communities around the world. Shockingly, 78% of those who use Planned Parenthoods services live at or below 150% of the federal poverty line, showing how important this organization is to low-income families (Topulos, Greene, Drazen). Their mission statement is “A Reason for Being”, which is shown through their efforts to provide health care, advocate public policies, create educational programs, and endorse research. There are those who do not believe Planned Parenthood should be funded by the government, though, due to the fact that they provide abortions to women in need. Studies show that the effects of not having Planned Parenthood available are disastrous, causing low-income families to lack a healthcare provider and the number of those who are infected with STD’s and STI’s to rise. The biggest concern communities have about the government defunding Planned Parenthood is the effects that it would have on low-income families who would no longer have access to something that many people take for granted: health care. Although many believe that Planned Parenthood mostly provides abortions, in reality, only 3% of the people that seek help from them receive an abortion, while 97% receive affordable and, in many cases,

In the Hispanic/Latino culture health care is most commonly sought after when symptoms appear, and in may cases only when those symptoms cause the individual’s incapacitation. Working through discomfort is considered the norm, dwelling on discomfort or mild pain is seen as weakness and seeking medical attention when not ill, such as preventive care, is almost unheard of, unless it is required by one’s employer. Culturally engaging in premarital sex is frowned upon for girls, though not so much for males, abstinence may be the only birth control ever discussed at home, for fear of implying consent. This significantly increments the danger of teen age pregnancy, abortion is rejected, mostly for moral and religious reasons, thus the high rate of teen age birth.

The limits of this proposal will encompass women between the ages of 18-64 living in the El Paso area. Language in legislation restricting reproductive health care is specifically targeted at women, so they will be the focus of this study. The Texas “Healthy Texas Women” Program defines women of reproductive age as women 18-64 (Texas Health and Human Services, n.d.). This standard will be used because “Healthy Texas Women” is the state Medicaid Program for women’s health, and was greatly impacted by funding cuts (White et al., 2012). The services provided by “Healthy Texas Women” also create a standard of reproductive care.

Since the 1920’s, teen pregnancy among the Latino community has been one of the biggest social problems. Factors like poor or no sex education, negative media portrayal, poor or lower than average educational levels, social inequality and family pressure, such as encouraging womanhood in teen years, contribute to the high percentage of teen pregnancy among Latinas. However, teen pregnancy among Latinas has been decreasing in recent years. Recent programs such as public service announcement and sex education continue to help educate young Latinas and lower the risk of teen pregnancy. Nevertheless, Latinas still represent the group of people with the highest teen pregnancy. One in six Latinas between the ages of 14-20 will have a child at some point, and 30% of all Latino teenage parents have children out of wedlock.

In an effort to combat the epidemic, State Representative Mary González (D) recently introduced to the Texas State Legislature during its 84th session House Bill 90. This bill aims to expand eligibility for assistance under the Texas Women 's Health Program, including access to reproductive services and protective health services, to females ages 15 years and older. Public programs—particularly Medicaid and the Title X federally funded family planning program both of which are used to fund Texas Women’s Health Program system—are essential to women 's access to inexpensive contraceptive services and supplies and their capability to use contraceptives successfully.

Planned Parenthood is an organization dedicated to fighting for women’s health and rights as well as equality (History and Success, 2015). Margaret Sanger, an activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse is credited for finding the organization. She knew the effects firsthand of what women went through when dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. Her mother birth eighteen children and out of the eighteen, eleven survived. As a result of having so many children, her mother passed away at the age of forty. Also, she worked as a nurse with immigrant families and witnessed the death of women dying from unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortion. This matter at hand, prompt

The 21st century would bring a new surge towards equal rights for women. Issues such as abortion and reproductive rights, wage rights and discrimination based on gender, are just a few of the issues women are facing in the 21st century. The National Organization for Women reports women should have access reproductive health and family planning services, including abortion. Abolishing the ability for women to access those health services violates a “fundamental human right” notes NOW. According to NOW, a severe and continuing shortage of family planning services and contraceptive products leads to an estimated 76 million unplanned pregnancies worldwide, according to the U.N. Population Fund (2005). Not granting these services to women leaves them at a huge risk. An estimated seventy-eight thousand women die each year around the world.

While Latin America’s lack of reproductive rights would seem to be common knowledge, many are unaware of how exactly women in Latin American countries are affected. In a fairly large number of countries, abortion is illegal. In regards to this, “in 2008, 12 percent of maternal deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean were due to unsafe abortions.” (Mane, 2013) 95% of the abortions

Roman Catholicism has inadvertently played a major role in keeping Latinas at home through emphasis on purity by worship of the Virgin Mary and doctrine against contraception. Though all American women share the same oppressed roots, Latin American women seem to have been slower to actively and as a group rise up against society’s expectations of them.

○ This study was done because immigrant do not have enough knowledge about pregnancy and proper contraception use, males have multiple sex partners, afraid of deportation, uninsured, poverty, discrimination, and lack of healthcare resources

More than 90% of the Spanish speaking world is Roman Catholic. There are many rules about birth control that land in the catholic religion. It is said that all forms of birth control besides the rhythm method are unacceptable, but the church and the people 's relationship with the church is changing. One intense area of change is the increasing number of Catholic women who, despite clear prohibitions from the church, still use oral contraceptives. Churches are central to the life of the family and community hence can be important resources in planning and delivering services. Faith and church remain powerful sources of hope and strength in the Hispanic community, especially in times of sickness.

It was a sunny midafternoon in a shiny new global-economy mall in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador, and a young woman I was hoping to meet appeared to be getting cold feet. She had agreed to rendezvous with a go-between not far from the Payless shoe store and then come to a nearby hotel to talk to me. She was an hour late. Alone in the hotel lobby, I was feeling nervous; I was stood up the day before by another woman in a similar situation. I had been warned that interviewing anyone who had had an abortion in El Salvador would be difficult. The problem was not simply that in this very Catholic country a shy 24-year-old unmarried woman might feel shame telling her story to an older man. There was also the criminal stigma. And this

A group known as FP2020 has been working to make family planning services available throughout the world. Through their efforts, they have avoided 77 million unplanned pregnancies in just three years. In the United States, a similar problem needs to be addressed. Although the costs and expenses associated with contraception is more accessible for the population, the locations are not. Having access to family planning services ensures that women can get the prenatal care they need for healthy pregnancies.