Latinos for Planned Parenthood
Latinos are a vital part of the Planned Parenthood community; they are Planned Parenthood staff, clinicians, educators, volunteers, activists, supporters, and patients. In fact, Planned Parenthood health centers serve over 560,000 Latinx patients each year. Those patients overlap with the United States’ nine million Latinas of reproductive age — and they all deserve expanded access to health care.
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The Latinx community is rising up against political attacks and systemic barriers that have hurt their ability to access affordable, high-quality health care and live free from discrimination. The word “Latinx” (pronounced “La-teen-ex”) is the gender-neutral alternative to Latino, Latina, and Latin@. See our Glossary for more on the words and phrases we use in the Latinx community.
The word Latinx is both inclusive and strong — and that’s what Planned Parenthood’s programs strive to be, as they work in partnership with local leaders across the country to harness the Latinx community’s political power.
We know that not everyone identifies as Latinx or is familiar with the term. In an effort to meet folks where they are and reach as wide of an audience as possible, our Twitter handle remains @Latinos4PP (as it has been for many years), and we use the words “Latinos” and “Latinas” in other circumstances. In the meantime, we are educating people far and wide about the term Latinx and what it stands for.
By collaborating with Latinx communities, Planned Parenthood is helping to improve sexual and reproductive health in those communities. How? Through key programs — including Promotores de Salud and Raíz community organizing — that boost general awareness about sexual and reproductive health, increase familiarity with and access to Planned Parenthood health services, and mobilize Latinxs to advocate for sexual and reproductive health care policies.
Raíz and Promotores programs are active across the United States, including in: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Promotores de Salud Program
Planned Parenthood affiliates train and support local community leaders to become “promotores” — health educators who work to meet the diverse needs of Latinx communities across the country. Promotores de Salud is a program modeled on Mexican and Central American adult peer education programs, which bring bilingual reproductive health education and information into Latinx homes and community-gathering locations.
Promotores bring sexual and reproductive health information and resources into communities that need them, building trusted relationships and decreasing barriers to healthcare access. Promotores also provide critical linkages to health services, often helping community members navigate through the process of accessing health care and other needed services.
Raíz Community Organizing Program
Raíz (Spanish for “root”) is a unique program that builds long-term, sustainable, community organizing structures in authentic partnership with the Latinx community. Raíz is focused on community organizing exclusively in Latinx communities to address the barriers that they face in accessing health care and sex education.
Raíz organizers enroll Latinxs in health care; register Latinxs to vote; build Latinx community volunteer leaders; and advocate for reproductive health and rights, including the health and rights of immigrant communities.
Top Latinx Issues in Health Care Access and Outcomes
Latinxs face greater obstacles to obtaining, and benefiting from, sexual and reproductive health services compared to their non-Latinx peers. Those obstacles include discrimination based on race, national origin, religious identity, immigration status, sexual orientation, language, salary, and and a likelihood of being uninsured that is almost three times higher than that of non-Hispanic whites.
Latinx communities experience an intersection of all these barriers and, as a result, often experience higher rates of reproductive cancers, unintended pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections than most other demographic groups in the United States. That's why Planned Parenthood works collaboratively with organizations leading the fight on intersectional issues that impact the health and rights in Latinx communities. Together, united, we can advocate and build political power.
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Get updates about ways to advocate for Latino communities, including how to join the Raíz and Promotores de Salud staff and volunteer teams.
