Latinos in Favor of Birth Control & Sexual Education

By Hope Gillette, Saludify

A new poll presented Thursday in a webinar by Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health at the Silver School of Social Work in New York, has revealed Hispanics in the United States overwhelmingly support sexual education and access to birth control for teenagers.

According to Rocsi Diaz, Entertainment Tonight Correspondent and Planned Parenthood Youth Ambassador, the poll was conducted as a means of identifying reasons within the Hispanic community for continued high rates of teen pregnancy.

While overall teen pregnancy numbers have dropped within all demographics during the last few years, Hispanics have seen the slowest decline, with four in 10 Latina teens expected to have at least one pregnancy before the age of 20.

Latinas’s pregnancy rate is currently twice as high as non-Hispanic whites, stated Diaz, and they’re 1.5 times more likely to  repeat a teen birth.

The poll: Birth control and sexual education

The poll data used to evaluate Hispanics’ feelings toward birth control and sexual education was pulled from GFR’sKnowledgePanel Latino survey, which was representative of 97 percent of physical addresses in the 50 states. Forty percent of survey participants were Spanish-speaking only and 40 percent identified themselves as bilingual.

The results of the poll revealed the following:

• 87.4 percent of Latinos indicated that it is very important for teens to avoid getting pregnant or causing a pregnancy
• 89 percent of Latinos felt avoiding teen pregnancy was just as important as doing well in school
• 51 percent of Latinos felt avoiding teen pregnancy was more important for Hispanics compared to other groups
• 86 percent of Latinos felt parents should do more to reduce teen pregnancy
• 78.2 percent of Latinos felt schools should do more to reduce teen pregnancy
• 61 percent of Latinos felt religious organizations should do more to reduce teen pregnancy
• 63.1 percent of Latinos felt the media should do more to reduce teen pregnancy
• 67.7 percent of Latinos felt the government should do more to prevent teen pregnancy
• 96.1 percent of Latinos believe sexually transmitted disease information should be a part of sexual education in high school
• 93.3 percent of Latinos felt healthy relationships should be a part of sexual education in high school
• 91.5 percent of Latinos felt abstinence should be a part of sexual education in high school
• 90.6 percent of Latinos felt birth control should be a part of sexual education in high school
• 81.1 percent of Latinos felt sexual orientation should be a part of sexual education in high school
• The percentage of support for sexual education topics was similar for students in middle school
• One-third of Latinos felt Hispanic teens had less access to birth control compared to other groups
• 50 percent of Latinos believe Hispanic teens have less access to health insurance compared to other groups
• One-third of Latinos are unsure how the Affordable Care Act will change their access to health care

Planned Parenthood representatives explained as many as 30 percent of their sexual education participants are Latino, and one of the main reasons students cite for going to education programs is because they were once teen parents themselves.

Latinos who had children at a young age do not want those children experiencing teen pregnancy.

“Twenty-three percent of the nearly three million patients a year who rely on Planned Parenthood for birth control, cancer screenings, and other preventive care are Latino, and 32 percent of our sex education participants are Latino,” said Cecile Richards, CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “We take seriously our shared responsibility and are proud to partner with Latino families and community leaders to help prevent teen pregnancy.”

Come October 1, Eric Ferrero, Vice President of Communications for Planned Parenthood, explained 9 million Latinos will become eligible for health care under the Affordable Care Act, and already a number of people have reported no-cost prescriptions for birth control. As 2013 progresses, more and more Latinos will have access to no-copay birth control methods.

Access to care is one of the most critical components to decreasing the teen pregnancy rate, stated Diaz at the end of the webinar.

Research indicates 100 percent of the decline in teen pregnancy for individuals between 18 and 19 years of age was directly due to more effective and accessible birth control methods. Among individuals between 16 and 17 years of age, 75 percent of the decline was attributed to accessibility and 25 percent was linked to a higher rate of abstinence.

This article was first published in Saludify.

Hope Gillette is an award winning author and novelist. She has been active in the veterinary industry for over 10 years, and her experience extends from exotic animal care to equine sports massage.