EFE.- Health organizations fear that a repeal of the right to abortion in the United States worsens the reproductive health of latinasespecially of the migrants in an irregular situation, who already face limitations in access to medical care, to which is added the fear of being reported to migration.
Rosa Valderrama, spokesperson for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice (Latina Institute), told EFE that the obstacles are more accentuated when it comes to reproductive health care, such as pregnancybirth control or even access to abortion.
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The expert fears that a possible repeal of the abortiona right that the Supreme Court seems destined to eliminate in the coming weeks, would put thousands of low-income Latinas or undocumented migrants in a delicate situation.
“It’s very worrying,” admits Valderrama.
Valderrama says that at the headquarters of his organization in Florida y Texas Stories have been reported of women who are afraid to go to their medical appointments due to the presence of immigration authorities along the way.
They have also denounced the presence of agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) outside the clinics.
“Fear of family separation, detention, and deportation leads many Latinas and migrants to avoid reproductive health services altogether,” Valderrama stresses.
The situation will worsen if the Supreme revokes the right to abortionwhich that court enshrined in the historic “Roe v. Wade” judgment of 1973, he adds.
The Political Action Committee of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) noted this week that removing abortion protections would have a “disproportionate impact” on latinasAfrican-Americans, and other minority women.
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Nationwide, Latinas make up 24.8% of women who use the abortionaccording to the Guttmacher Institute, which has analyzed that data for the last 50 years.
The committee deepened that the worst part will be carried by the undocumented.
“Border Patrol checkpoints in southern states like Texas they can make it difficult for undocumented Latinas to travel to clinics in other states where abortion is more accessible.”
It adds that the elimination of abortion protections will impact low-income women in the country: 49.3% of women who have had an abortion in the US live at the federal poverty level, according to Guttmacher.
In this sense, Valderrama says that the latinas low-income people living in states with abortion restrictions, such as Texaswhere abortion after six weeks of pregnancy has been banned, “they often don’t have the time or money to travel to a different state to get the health care they need.”
Another concern of activists is the impact on efforts to get minority women to seek reproductive health care.
“Reproductive health care is crucial for every family to live with dignity and justice,” says Valderrama.
Obstetrician-gynecologist Érica Montes explained to EFE that the work to encourage Latinas to take care of their reproductive health in the US has been growing in recent years but that “there is still not much left.”
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The doctor, who has her practice in Arizona, points out that, according to her experience, young Latinas are increasingly seeking more information about family planning control methods.
But the challenge remains to “convince” Latina mothers to talk about it. “They believe that if they start talking about this topic early with their daughters, the girls are going to get pregnant,” says Montes.
Valderrama says that for many low-income women, OB/GYN appointments are their only regular doctor visit and an entry point for many preventive health services, from checking blood pressure levels to screening for breast cancer. breast and cervical.
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