Posted in Reproductive Justice on June 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights (NCIWR) would like to thank everyone who stood with immigrant women on June 20 – the Day of Action for Immigrant Women’s Health.
The Day of Action was a big success as organizations and individuals Tweeted, signed onto the Aderholt Amendment opposition letter, wrote blog posts, and stood up for #Health4ImmigrantWomen. (more…)
Posted in Reproductive Justice on June 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Please join us for a special Tweet chat to talk about what the Supreme Court’s decision on the health care law (known as the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) will mean for women, people of color, LGBTQ folks, and other underserved groups.
American Association of People with Disabilities * Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum * Black Women’s Health Imperative * Center for American Progress * Community Catalyst * Families USA * League of United Latin American Citizens * Mocha Moms * MomsRising * National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum * National Center for Lesbian Rights * National Council of La Raza * National Gay and Lesbian Task Force * National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health * National Women’s Law Center * Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need * Service Employees International Union
invite you to join
“Now what? How the Health Care Law Supreme Court Decision will Impact Women, People of Color, LGBTQ Folks, People with Disabilities, and other Underserved Groups”
(en Inglés y en Español)
This Tweet Chat is your chance to understand what the Supreme Court’s decision on the health care law means for you, your family, and your community. Advocates, organizers, and consumers will have an opportunity to learn in more depth about the implications of this decision, and be able to ask questions, get advice for organizing in your community, and share resources from a wide range of participating organizations.
When? Friday, June 29th at 11:00 am – 12:30 pm PT/ 2:00 – 3:30 pm ET
How? Join the chat “live” by following #HealthJustice on Twitter. You can also follow #HCRdecision to get updates all week long.
Unámosnos en Español con #SaludyJusticia
Please help us spread the word about this exciting conversation with your friends, family, and colleagues! Tweet it, post it, and send it!
Posted in Abortion, Immigration, Reproductive Justice on June 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
This week, the House of Representatives returns to DC after a weeklong recess, and if recent history is any indication, immigrant women should be watching the chamber very closely. The last several weeks have seen an onslaught of legislative attacks on immigrant women, proving that the dangerous and distracting “War on Women” is now targeting our most marginalized and vulnerable populations.
First, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4970 – a bill which claims to reauthorize the historically bipartisan Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), but actually rolls back protections for immigrant women that have existed for almost 20 years. Then conservative lawmakers tried, but failed, to pass the so-called “Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act” or PRENDA which was engineered as an attack on the reproductive freedoms of women of color. And just before they left DC, Congress found time to pass the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act (H.R. 5855), which includes a provision (Aderholt Amendment) that targets immigrant women’s reproductive health care with unnecessary and mean-spirited restrictions on access to abortion.
Sadly, these sexist, racist, and xenophobic attacks on immigrant women are not confined to Washington, DC. Just last Friday, Arizona Sherrif Joe Arpaio’s office detained a 6-year-old undocumented girl—despite the DHS announcement that same day that young people are to be considered for immediate relief from deportation.
It’s shameless. The good news? Women’s health, reproductive justice, and immigrants’ rights advocates are fighting back, and making our voices heard across the country. National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights (NCIWR) Steering Committee members National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) were joined by over 50 national, state, and local organizations in standing with immigrant women and opposing the Aderholt Amendment, and the outpouring of solidarity was remarkable. Now we’re ready to take it to the next level.
Here are five ways you can participate:
Need more information? Please contact Kimberly Inez McGuire at National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health or Shivana Jorawar at National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.
Posted in Immigration, Reproductive Justice on June 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
For the past six months, I’ve been coming to terms with my decision to leave the United States and return to Mexico. Because while I am incredibly grateful and feel very fortunate to have had the experience of living in the United States because of the ways in which it allowed me to conceptualize in previously unimaginable ways a more progressive future and to genuinely believe in the possibility of a more respectful, interdependent and conscious world, there came a point when my eyes were opened to the myth behind the surreal American dream. But every so often, politics like to shake me up.
In the last five years, I’ve been sheltered and nurtured by an incredibly progressive circle of friends and allies who’ve fed fuel to the fire of my ideals, people who believe like me that the stigma and criminalization of marginalized populations is ill-intentioned, out of focus, and counterproductive to the fabric of society. People who understand that through proper support founded on a culture of genuine concern and understanding, an individual’s infinite potential can be garnered and society can thus develop in a sustainable manner that respects and addresses the needs of all its constituents. Yet the reality I’ve lived in the United States is the ultimate contradiction to my ideals. My place here in society, which I like to metaphorically see as being at the top of the bottom of a totem pole, is something I am constantly reminded of. Real and dehumanizing challenges constantly arise because I am undocumented, but I am also aware that the privilege of graduating from Columbia affords me a much more comfortable place in society than many other people, particularly individuals within my community.
Yet I now know not to get comfortable, and not to let my guard down, even as some of my obstacles seem to have dissipated and my dreams have come closer to fruition, because as this has happened, my immediate family has had its stability uprooted, dispersing throughout the United States in an attempt to escape the persecution of e-verify, 287g and Secure Communities. My mother and I have had sleepless nights where we had to mobilize and take immediate action in response to each of my brothers getting arrested, to prevent them being identified by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, nights during which it became painfully real that to be an undocumented woman of color is a privilege compared to the experience my brother’s face on a daily basis, simply because as a woman, though I may be racially profiled, that does not come with the additional perception of a threat, thus producing unwarranted police involvement.
While I’d like to shout for joy at this announcement of “Deferred Action Process for Young People Who Are Low Enforcement Priorities,” which seems beamed down from an enlightened source, I’m hesitant. Perhaps because after eight years of activism within this particular movement, I’m used to the disappointment and broken promises that have rained down from politicians, from a very close call for the Federal DREAM Act at the end of 2010 to last summer’s Morton Memo, which ultimately proved to be a worthless appeasement. Had the Morton Memo held fast to its promises, there would be no DREAM Act-eligible youth facing deportation proceedings today.
Right now to me, this seems like little more than a political ploy by a president seeking re-election who’s faced increasing pressure from undocumented youth to do something, pressure which ultimately resulted in various of his campaign offices shutting down after they were occupied by undocumented activists who resolved not to leave unless an executive order were to be issued or they were arrested. These pressures in a sense forced Obama to do the right thing. And for that I’m touched, because as I watched his remarks on this new announcement, I realized that he thoroughly understands what it means to feel morally obliged, to do the “right thing”, even as ignorance bombards, as made obvious by the reporter attempting to argue with the president.
But I cannot say that the president has regained my trust, or that this announcement has sparked hope. Buckling under pressure is not a sign of strength. What has sparked hope and garnered my unconditional support and confidence is the work of undocumented youth the country over who have dropped the fear and claimed their value, giving a megaphonic voice where before there was an eerie silence gripping the undocumented community. To them, and to organizations such as NLIRH which value and understand the struggle of marginalization and overcoming fear, I am eternally grateful. Through their leadership and examples of strength, I’ve found my voice, and it’s liberating. Hopefully this announcement is genuine and the voice of undocumented individuals continues to get louder. However, it takes an understanding and strong recognition that this is not the time to rest or preemptively celebrate. We still have much, much work to do.
- Rosario Quiroz, DREAMer and NLIRH Community Mobilization Fellow
Posted in Immigration, Reproductive Justice on June 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
This morning, the Obama administration announced that it would stop deporting and begin granting work permits to students and young people.
Under the plan, students and young people will be spared deportation if they were brought to the United States before the age of 16 and are younger than 30 as of today; they’ve been in the country for at least five years continuously; have no criminal history; and have graduated from a U.S. high school, earned a GED, or have been honorably discharged from the military. The work permits will be good for two years, with no limits on how many times they may be renewed.
This is a big victory for DREAMers, who have been building a growing and brave movement of coming out as undocumented and unafraid to fight for their right to stay in this country. The opportunity for young people to finally be able to live their lives without fear of separation from their families, friends, and for many, the only place they realistically call home, is finally a reality, and that is a big deal.
However, this is certainly not the end. The guidance provides no path to citizenship. Therefore, Congress must follow the Administration lead and pass the DREAM Act.
There is a real human toll to the broken immigration system. Educational attainment is one way that Latinas can have access to information, resources, and services that will help them make informed and autonomous decisions. In short, the DREAM Act would allow youth who have grown up in the United States to step out of the shadows, become citizens, pursue education, and accomplish their goals.
The DREAM Act has a tough road to passage even though it has a wide band of support from the business community, the labor community, military leaders, teachers, principals, state and local government officials, and community leaders. Passage of the DREAM Act would be a tremendous accomplishment for the millions of Latinas that we represent. That’s why we fight for the equality, dignity, and human rights of immigrant women. NLIRH will also continue to work with the Administration and lawmakers to strengthen and support this bill.
Also, any day, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision on one of the most extreme anti-immigrant laws in the country. This is a reminder that until we have comprehensive reform, many people in our community remain precariously vulnerable to our flawed immigration policy and enforcement mechanisms.
The fight is not over. We have so much work left to do, but we cannot underestimate the brave actions of the DREAMers and this this victory. We owe a lot to the brave young undocumented folks who risked so much for social justice. We are not quite there yet, but we are closer. Thank you, DREAMers!
For more information about NLIRH’s work to advance the rights of immigrant women or our leadership on the National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights, please visit the NCIWR website.
Posted in Abortion, Racism, Reproductive Justice, violence on June 8, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Rep. Aderholt (AL-4th), on the right, at the May 16, 2012 Mark-Up of the DHS Appropriations Bill, where he introduced the dangerous “Aderholt Amendment” restricting abortion funding for immigrant women in detention.
VAWA. PRENDA. Aderholt.
What do all these words (and acronyms) have in common?
They represent the three latest attacks on women’s health, safety, and reproductive justice. However, the War on Women has been raging continuously in the 112th Congress. So what else connects these three? They represent the escalating attacks on the health and rights of women of color, and immigrant women in particular—their right to reproductive health care, their access to protections from intimate partner violence and other crimes, and their right to bodily autonomy.
Let’s start with the most recent affront: the Aderholt amendment. Last night the House of Representatives passed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 5855), which includes a provision (Aderholt Amendment) that targets immigrant women’s reproductive health care with unnecessary and mean-spirited restrictions on access to abortion. The provision prohibits federal funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide abortion care for women in ICE detention centers—adding yet another layer to the harmful restrictions the Hyde amendment already puts in place.
The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH), outraged over the politicized attack on some of the most vulnerable women in our society, led an effort to unite over 50 national, state, and local organizations in opposition the provision—a group that includes reproductive health, rights, and justice advocates as well as faith-based groups, advocates for Latinos health, and groups that represent immigrants, refugees, and LGBTQ people.
In a letter to the House of Representatives, this diverse group united to express deep concern that the Aderholt amendment would take us backwards, making life harder for women in federal immigration custody. Women in detention are separated from their children, their partners, and their health care providers. They have been denied HIV medication, forced to give birth in shackles, and sexually assaulted by guards. This amendment, and any restriction on access to reproductive health care, is yet another insult and humiliation for women who are already facing terrible circumstances. Immigrant women’s health should never be used as a political bargaining chip.
Rep. Adams (FL- 24) introduced H.R. 4970, a bill which takes the VAWA name, but strips protections for immigrant victims that have existed for nearly 20 years.
However, this attack did not operate in a vacuum. It represents a variation on the theme of stripping away the rights of immigrant women, a theme which is alarming, and growing. Just last month, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4970 – a bill which claims to reauthorize the historically bipartisan Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), but actually rolls back protections for immigrant women that have existed for almost 20 years. Since it was first signed into law, VAWA has been reauthorized twice. And each time, both parties worked together to advance protections for all victims, including immigrants. This time around, the House bill reversed protections for immigrant women and excluded advances included in the Senate bill for LGBTQ victims of violence.
And just last week, the House of Representatives attempted (but thankfully failed) to pass the so-called “Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act” or PRENDA which was engineered as an attack on the reproductive freedoms of women of color. The bill claims to outlaw abortion motivated by sex-selection, and would have imposed strict criminal and civil penalties on abortion care providers who fail to determine the motives of their patients. The bill was first introduced as the “Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act” and additionally banned abortions on the basis of race of the fetus. While the race-related language was stripped from the bill, PRENDA remained an attack on color and immigrant women under the guise of protecting women, pushed forward by legislators with little to no history of supporting gender equity.
Immigrant women deserve better than this onslaught of abuse. They are mothers, daughters, tias, workers, mentors, and valuable members of communities across this country. Their ability to access reproductive health care and protections from violence are critical to their pursuit of a healthful life in the United States and to the promise of fairness, justice, and equal opportunity.
We urge you to join us in this call to support the lives of immigrant women. Please visit the website of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health for more information.
Posted in Abortion, cervical cancer, civic engagement, Contraception, Economics, Health Care, Immigration, LANs, Reproductive Justice on June 1, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Latina activists in New York recognize that passage of the DREAM Act advances both economic and reproductive justice.
As we join the call for Paycheck Fairness, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) recognizes that in the fight to achieve economic justice for all women, we must recognize, elevate, and address the unique challenges faced by Latinas and immigrant women.
According to the White House Council on Women and Girls, women make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns through employment. Yet, for Latinas, this rate is 56 cents on the dollar, which represents the largest wage gap of any other group of working women. What accounts for this widened disparity between men and Latinas, and between white women and Latinas? We know that although Latinas comprise the fastest growing community of color, more than a third do not graduate high school. Latinas experience the highest level of poverty among women in the labor force at 12.1% and have the lowest employment-to-population ratio of women of all racial and ethnic groups. Furthermore, the recession hit Latinas particularly hard as unemployment rates more than doubled for Latinas in the years between 2007 and 2010. Immigrant women and Latinas with limited English proficiency not only face systematic bars on their participation in the labor force, but also discrimination, prejudice, and bias from employers. Latina farmworkers face horrific levels of sexual violence, sexual harassment, and retaliation for reporting abuses from their employers. These factors account for the fact that Latinas are overly represented in low-wage sectors, working at jobs that provide few-to-no benefits like health insurance, paid vacation, and maternity or family leave.
We know that these pay inequities impact Latinas’ access to reproductive health care. Latinas compose the ethnic/racial group with the highest level of health care un-insurance, as they are less likely to have employer-sponsored coverage or to afford costly individual plans. And despite the enormous gains under the Affordable Care Act, or health reform law, undocumented individuals will be barred from purchasing health plans on the state health insurance exchanges and remain ineligible for Medicaid. The federally-imposed 5-year bar on legal permanent residents from accessing benefits under Medicaid blocks Latinas’ access to reproductive and sexual health care, including contraception and important preventive care such as Pap tests – and did we mention that Latinas have the highest incidence of cervical cancer of women of all racial/ethnic groups? On top of this, federal funding bans on abortion care make abortion just as inaccessible as if it were illegal for far too many Latinas.
And while NLIRH celebrates and supports the advances called for in the federal Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced to the House of Representatives by Representative Rosa DeLauro (CO-3) and in the Senate by Senator Barbara Mikulski (MD), we view this legislation as part of a comprehensive solution to economic justice for all women, including Latinas. Utilizing a comprehensive approach means addressing injustice in immigration, health care, education, and employment to reverse the culture of devaluing Latina labor. In recent years, a wave of political and policy developments in states are, instead of seeking to address the wage gap between Latinas and other groups, actively limiting Latinas’ opportunities for a quality education, optimum participation in the workforce, and the comprehensive, quality, and affordable reproductive health care needed to plan their families and their participation in the workforce.
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signs bill which adds more immigration restrictions on top of HB 56.
Let’s briefly look at two states- Arizona and Alabama – where the wage rate for Latinas is 53 cents and 41 cents, respectively, for every dollar a white man earns working full-time year-round. Instead of working to elevate the economic status of Latino families, the political classes in Arizona and Alabama have embarked on a radical anti-immigrant agenda aimed directly at limiting the employment and educational opportunities of immigrant and Latino families. HB56, enacted in Alabama in 2011, requires public school boards to attain the immigration status of newly enrolling children and their parents. Section 8 of this law forbids undocumented students from attending public universities and colleges and from receiving financial assistance. And despite the recent special legislative session called by Governor Robert Bentley to address concerns in HB 56, the changes actually tack on more dangerous provisions. Both HB56 and Arizona’s SB1070 forbid employers from hiring undocumented workers, and both work to create a culture of fear and discrimination against those without papers.
At the same time, the two states in our case study here, Arizona and Alabama, have embarked on a dangerous anti-abortion and anti-family planning agenda. In both Arizona and Alabama, 20-week abortion bans disproportionately impact low-income women, including Latinas, who face numerous barriers to full information about their pregnancies, and for whom financial, geographic, and other challenges delay the process of attaining abortion care. Arizona has also put in place a race- and sex-selective abortion ban which appropriates the language of civil rights and gender equity to target the reproductive freedom of women of color. Oh yeah, and in Arizona, you are apparently pregnant two weeks before conception, so this combined with the 20-week abortion ban puts abortion care out of reach for even more Latinas.
Beyond abortion, we are seeing attacks on access to contraception and family planning programs. In Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer signed into law a bill that permits “religiously-affiliated” employers to refuse to include contraception in employee health plans, a form of discrimination that intersects directly with reproductive and economic justice. And this only scratches the surface in terms of the amount roll-backs to reproductive health care access we are seeing in these and other states.
Here at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, we view the attacks on immigrant families and reproductive health as working hand-in-hand to diminish Latina opportunity. Because the question begs being asked, how can Latinas achieve their economic potential when they cannot attend university or work legally? How can Latinas fully participate in the labor force and provide for their families without the ability to space and plan their pregnancies? How can Latinas acheive equality of opportunity in the United States without equal access to health care?
Members of NLIRH’s Latina Advocacy Network in Texas fight for reproductive justice.
Despite the enormous challenges, Latinas across the country are mobilizing for reproductive justice. Our Latina Advocacy Network in Texas is fighting against dramatic cuts to the Texas Women’s Health Program, a program which has been central to their ability access needed breast and cervical cancer screenings. Our Latina Advocacy Network in Miami is mobilizing to build broad coalitions bridging reproductive justice to other social justice work. Our Latina Advocacy Network in New York recognizes that passage of the DREAM Act, and the ability for undocumented immigrants to attain higher education, is central to the fight for reproductive justice. NLIRH is also an advisory board member of We Belong Together, a coalition united for children and families, which participated in a delegation to Alabama to bear witness to the impact of HB 56 on the lives of Alabama’s families. And through ¡Soy Poderosa!/ I am Powerful!, NLIRH’s civic engagement campaign, we will ignite the political power of all Latinas to advance health, dignity, and reproductive justice.
Together, we can make inroads in the fight for economic and paycheck fairness. However, this work must be intersectional, comprehensive, and take into account the lived experiences of all women, including Latinas. As we work to pass the important Paycheck Fairness Act, let’s also mobilize communities for immigrant rights, reduce barriers to quality and affordable health care, expand opportunities for education and job training, and last, but certainly not least, ensure that all women, including Latinas, have access to quality and affordable reproductive health care.
Posted in From the Field, LANs, Reproductive Justice on May 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Everything is bigger in Texas, but does that include community organizing? Last week a few of us went down the Rio Grande Valley to visit our incredible activists who have been working on creating an educated and saavy group of Latin@s in colonias throughout the Valley. The Texas Rio Grande Valley is a place that is often times forgotten about by the rest of the United States. It is only recently that it has been placed on the map because of the work that our Latina Advocacy Network (LAN) has been doing around the Affordable Care Act and the destructive cuts to women’s health services in Texas – our activists are truly incredible, and right when you think they have surpassed any expectations, they do something else to raise the bar, and really push their activists to the next level.
Our leaders hold “juntas comunitarias,” (community meetings) in different colonias on a daily basis. Some of our more developed colonia leaders come to these meetings equipped with a neighbor or family member by their side to get them involved in the LAN; a pen and paper to write down any information they have learned in the meeting, or an assignment(s) they have taken for an event; and an open heart and mind. (more…)
Posted in Reproductive Justice on April 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
This blog post is part of the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA) Community Working Group’s Blog Carnival entitled, Health Equity Can’t Wait!, to celebrate April as National Minority Health Month. You can find all posts in the blog carnival here. And you can join us on Twitter, using hastag #HealthEquityNow, Friday, April 27 from 3-4 EDT for a Tweet Storm on health equity.
The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) works on behalf of 20 million Latinas in the U.S., striving to ensure that all of our mothers, sisters, aunts, and friends can live healthy and dignified lives in a just society. But why are health and health care so important to dignity, justice, and other social justice goals?
Health is a fundamental civil and human right—it’s difficult to realize and fulfill other human rights without the ability to become healthy, stay healthy, or obtain the care one needs to maintain one’s health.
For example, the right to work, including for fair pay and without discrimination, is a highly regarded human right and, some might say, civic duty. But living with chronic disease or pain can make it difficult to obtain or hold down a job, much less stay on any career track. Latin@s often work in high-risk, low-pay, and minimal-benefit jobs. As a result, they are likely to face illness and injury related to work—negative effects that too often go ignored by employers. But that’s not all: the lack of benefits, such as paid sick days, can mean that a woman risks her job when she has to miss work for a medical appointment or to stay home sick. Being unjustly fired from or partly or completely disabled by a job can make it hard to find subsequent employment.
Posted in Reproductive Justice on April 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
This blog post is part of the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA) Community Working Group’s Blog Carnival entitled, Health Equity Can’t Wait!, to celebrate April as National Minority Health Month. You can find all posts in the blog carnival here. And you can join us on Twitter, using hastag #HealthEquityNow, Friday, April 27 from 3-4 EDT for a Tweet Storm on health equity.
As the only national organization advancing the reproductive health and justice of 20 million U.S. Latinas, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health takes health disparities very seriously.
We know that Latinas suffer from cervical cancer at rates disproportionate to other groups. Among all racial/ethnic groups, Latinas have the highest incidence of cervical cancer, a rate that is nearly twice that for white non-Latina women. Latinas have the second highest rates of cervical cancer mortality, after black women, although mortality rates increase for Latinas increase along the southwest border.
Cervical cancer is not the only place we see disparities. Latinas suffer from a number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) at higher rates than their white non-Latina counterparts. Chlamydia and gonorrhea disproportionately impact our community and can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and other reproductive health consequences. Additionally, the AIDS case rate for Latinas is about five times higher than that of white women.
So what is the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health doing to take action for health equity?
Advancing health equity lies at the core of our work.
Health equity is a matter of social justice: Here at NLIRH, we work to change systems and institutions that create barriers, decrease the quality, and increase the cost of health care for Latinas. Through policy advocacy, we call for changes to federal, regulatory, and state policies to improve access and quality of care for U.S. Latinas. Through community mobilization, we center the experiences of Latinas and lift the voices of Latinas for greater reproductive health and rights. Through public education, we educate the elected officials, researchers, and the public on pressing reproductive health issues. NLIRH recognizes the myriad challenges Latinas face to accessing reproductive health care, exacerbated by poverty, gender, racial and ethnic discrimination, and xenophobia, and as such, we advance a national policy agenda which includes immigration policy, LGBTQ policy, and other intersectional work. As Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius noted recently, nothing is more fundamental to opportunity as good health. And despite the advancements of the past decades, with the implementation of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Latinas and immigrant women still suffer from health care disparities which unjustly limit opportunity.
Health equity is a matter of reproductive health: Reproductive and sexual health care services are some of the most important forms of care for Latinas of reproductive age. Yet financial barriers, lack of health insurance, fear associated due to immigration status, fear of bias and discrimination by providers, and cultural and linguistic barriers (among others) decrease access to everything from contraception to quality maternity care. For instance, according to research from Hart Research Associates, more than half of Latinas ages 18 to 34 report that the cost of prescription contraception has interfered with their ability to use it consistently. Additionally, in a survey of transgender people’s experiences with discrimination in health care, 19% of respondents reported being refused care due to their transgendered or non-gender conforming status. By working for health equity, we bring down barriers to the reproductive health care that Latinas need.
Health equity is a matter of reproductive justice: We need an equitable and sustainable health care system to empower Latinas to make the best reproductive health care decisions for themselves. We need a health care system that looks at the whole person and recognizes that access to transportation, language interpretation, cultural competency, child care, and extended hours on weekends and nights are important to advancing the health of communities of color. Advancing health equity in this way will advance reproductive justice by creating a health care system that truly supports the hopes and dreams of Latinas, their families, and their communities.
¡Soy Poderosa! Lifting Latina Voices for Health Equity!
Despite the challenges, Latinas are PODEROSAS who fight for health equity in their communities across the country. Our poderosas in Texas continue to fight for reproductive justice in the Rio Grande Valley, despite an outright disregard for the reproductive and sexual health of women of color, including Latinas, by the current political system. Our poderosas in Florida are fighting anti-reproductive health and anti-immigration forces, while building bridges in social justice coalitions. Our poderosas in New York are fighting for the DREAM Act, as they see educational advancement and a path to citizenship as matters of reproductive justice. And poderosas throughout the country raised their voices in support of health reform to celebrate the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA.)
And the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, with the strength from our poderosas, will continue to advance health equity, for example by supporting the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA), as a way to build upon the health equity foundations set in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and removing barriers for immigration women and LGBTQ Latin@s.
With support from Latinas across the country and by working in coalitions like the Health Equity and Accountability (HEAA) Community Working Group, we will work towards securing health (la salud), dignity (la dignidad), and justice (la justicia) for Latinas, their families, and their communities.
