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August 7, 2006
Latina women
Latinas who face unplanned pregnancies need more resources in order to make informed decisions about whether to continue or end their pregnancies.
Photo courtesy of Richard Lord.

When Latina immigrant women arrive in the United States, they’ve got to learn a new culture, language and unfamiliar laws. The learning process also extends to health care. Since many come from nations where abortion is highly restricted, these new residents may not know where to turn when they’re faced with an unintended pregnancy or even that abortion is legal in the United States. Ipas’s United States program is working to help Latinas obtain this vital information. Through its multiyear project to improve sexual and reproductive health access and advocacy among North Carolina’s Latinos, it has published a Spanish-language brochure that helps pregnant Latinos navigate the options available to them.

The brochure, Tus opciones cuando tienes un embarazo no planeado (Your options when you have an unplanned pregnancy), will be distributed at selected health-care facilities and community-based organizations throughout the state. It will also be available for free downloading on this site.

Its target audience is North Carolina Latinas and primarily those of Mexican origin, since they make up the largest national group among the state’s fast-growing Hispanic population. It’s also aimed at people who may have only an elementary grasp of written Spanish; its simple language is designed for the adult reader with a fourth- to sixth-grade literacy level even in their own tongue.

During a 2005 assessment of Latino access to reproductive health in five North Carolina counties, Ipas’s Robyn Schryer Fehrman and her co-researchers noted a lack of printed materials that took a comprehensive approach to describing a pregnant woman’s options. They also identified barriers that prevented effective communication between health-workers and clients and stopped Latinas from receiving the care they needed: lack of knowledge about reproductive health and the U.S. health system; transportation issues; and both the health-care providers and patient’s cultural norms.

Schryer Fehrman, who directs Ipas’s Latino initiative, said: “Women have to know what’s legal under U.S. law and what services we have here in order to get the full range of reproductive-health care, including abortion. This brochure will help them understand that abortion is legal here and give them basic information about the different type of abortion procedures you might find in clinics, where many Latina women seek care.”

The brochure also explains that pregnant women can choose parenthood or adoption, and provides contact information for adoption hotlines as well as abortion information services.

“The brochure tells women that it’s always your right to decide if you want to become a parent and that no one can force you to have an abortion or deny you the right to have one, either,” said Schryer Fehrman.

“For women who come from places where getting a legal abortion means having to get documents or approval from doctors, government officials or law enforcement authorities, understanding that things work differently here can determine whether a woman is able to handle an unwanted or ill-timed pregnancy in the best way for her life, well-being and family.”

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258