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"1. Abstinence-only education negatively affects Latinas. Research shows that abstinence-only education deters teens from using contraception, increasing their risk of STIs and unintended pregnancies. This directly impacts Latinas, as abstinence-only strategies are overwhelmingly taught in states with large Latino populations, like Texas and Arizona. 2. STI rates are higher among Latinas than non-Latina white women. Latinos as a whole become infected with STIs like gonorrhea and chlamydia at a higher rate than non-Latino whites, and Latinas contract HIV at four times the rate of white non-Latina women. 3. More than half of pregnancies among Latinas are unintended. Latinas are twice as likely to experience an unintended pregnancy than non-Latina white women. The majority of those pregnancies lead to unplanned births, and 4 in 10 of these pregnancies end with an abortion. 4. Latinas face barriers accessing contraception. More than 35 percent of Latinas are uninsured, making access to contraception difficult. With co-pays often too expensive for the disproportionately poor group, contraception becomes less affordable and less accessible. 5. Latinas are less likely to obtain prenatal care early in their pregnancies. Prenatal care helps ensure healthy moms and babies. Children of mothers who don&amp;#039;t get prenatal care are five times more likely to experience complications and, in many cases, death. But more than 23 percent of Latinas do not begin prenatal care in their first trimester, andundocumented immigrants \u2014 who only qualify for Emergency Medicaid that doesn&amp;#039;t cover prenatal care \u2014 often go without this critical service. 6. Puerto Ricans have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the U.S. In 2010, the Latino infant mortality rate was 5.25 per 1,000 births, compared to 5.18 for non-Latina white women. This statistic, however, increases drastically for Puerto Ricans. The most recent data from 2009 shows that the Puerto Rican infant mortality rate is 40 percent higher than that of non-Latino whites and their babies are twice as likely to die from low birth weight. 7. Latinas face barriers to abortion access. Around 4 in 10 Latinas identify as pro-choice, but accessing reproductive care, including abortion, is difficult for many. Some Latinas not only face cultural and linguistic hurdles that make finding a provider difficult, but they are less likely to have insurance that covers the cost of abortion. Further inhibiting abortion access, 97 percent of rural counties \u2014 where a large portion of the Latino population lives \u2014 do not have abortion providers, forcing Latinas in need of an abortion to spend money traveling long distances.  8. Latinas have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the U.S. Latina youth give birth at more than twice the rate of non-Latina white adolescents. Latina teens are at a higher risk of unintended pregnancies because they have significantly lower rates of contraceptive use, since they are more likely to live in areas with poor access to family planning services and schools that take an abstinence-only approach to sex education. 9. Latinas are more vulnerable to cervical and breast cancer. Latinas have the highest rate of cervical cancer among all women in the U.S. and are 20 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than non-Latina white women.  10. Forced sterilization has been used to attack Latinas&amp;#039; reproductive freedom. California prisons had illegally sterilized female inmates from 2005 to 2013 (predominantly women of color). The history of sterilization among Latinas in this country is complicated at best and eugenic at worst. RELATED: 9 Disturbing Facts About Abortion in Latin America9 Things Every Woman Needs to Know About Sexual Health6 Facts Latinas Should Know About Their Sexual Health How Can Anal Sex Harm You? Follow Raquel on Twitter. Photo credit: Getty Images "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a27613/latinas-repro-rights/>