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Abortion: Where do Latinos stand?

Washington Hoy
Differences among hispanics regading social values (click to open PDF file)
Isabel M. Estrada Portales
05/27/2005

A migrant farm worker from Mexico has been charged with illegal abortion after taking misoprostol to self-induce an abortion in South Carolina.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) “is working with other concerned advocates to ensure that her difficult situation is understood as a consequence of the barriers facing immigrants in this country and not exploited by the anti-choice movement.”

“Sadly, this is one case of many,” said Silvia Henriquez, Executive Director of NLIRH. “Our biggest challenge is access to health care, since 40% of Latinas don’t even have health insurance, and a third don’t have prenatal care. But right after comes the lack of information about the law and the resources available.”

Due to the perception that the Latino community is overly religious, and mostly Catholic, here has been a tendency to believe that Hispanics are anti-choice, but Henriquez, who have worked in these issues for many years, begs to disagree.

“We have a different perspective on that. We do training around the country and Latinas come to find out more and to participate. Latinas who are Catholic use birth control and also say they would have an abortion.

They may be religious, but the Catholic church does not dictate what happens in the bedroom,” says Henriquez. “It’s very common to see the socioeconomic reasons behind many abortions, but also violence, for instance. It’s very important to realize that Latinas see abortion in the context of their responsibility to provide for their families and community. Many times they don’t make the decision in isolation,” explains Henriquez.

The Hyde Amendment, which passed in 1977, prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion services, except for cases or life threatening risk, rape, or incest. This drastically limited abortion access to low income women.
Rosie Jiménez, a young Latina who resorted to an unsafe abortion for lack of means to pay for the procedure was the first woman to die as a result, advocates say, of the Hyde Amendment.