High teen pregnancy rates are robbing our young women of too many opportunities – the opportunity to go to college, the opportunity to start a rewarding career, and the opportunity to fulfill their dreams of a better future.
Janet Murguía
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) will partner with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on a new education and outreach initiative aimed at Latino teens and young adults. The launch of the new initiative was announced last week at a news conference on Capitol Hill featuring Representative Hilda Solis (D-CA).
“Nearly half of Latinas become pregnant before age 20. High teen pregnancy rates are robbing our young women of too many opportunities – the opportunity to go to college, the opportunity to start a rewarding career, and the opportunity to fulfill their dreams of a better future,” stated Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO.
“Unplanned and unprotected sex also poses serious health risks for Latinas. That’s why we welcome the opportunity to work in partnership with Representative Solis and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on this issue,” continued Murguía.
“The National Campaign has been a key leader in the successful effort to reduce overall teen pregnancy rates in our country. The new Latino initiative will build on this track record of success and zero in on the specific themes, messages, and approaches we need to reach Hispanic young people, especially those overlooked by traditional mainstream efforts,” Murguía said.
“We commend Representative Solis for her passion and leadership on this issue. I can think of no better champion than Hilda Solis to spearhead our efforts on Capitol Hill,” noted Murguía.
“The National Campaign has involved Hispanic community-based organizations and substantive experts at every phase, and on every level, of this campaign. They’re going about this exactly the right way, which gives me great confidence that we can successfully reverse the teen pregnancy crisis in our community,” concluded Murguía.
Your Opinion
Top Stories
Why Guantanamo hunger strike could be the last
SC: Why did you call your memoir "The General"?
AE: Because I was one of a limited number of prisoners at Guantanamo who spoke English, I was often forced to be an "unofficial leader" by guards and interrogators. They nicknamed me "the general."
SC: How were you released?
AE: I was released ...
Temp agencies, raiteros exploit undocumented
Ty Inc. became one of the world's largest manufacturers of stuffed animals thanks to the Beanie Babies craze in the 1990s.
But it has stayed on top partly by using an underworld of labor brokers known as raiteros, who pick up workers from Chicago's street corners and shuttle them to Ty's ...
ASSET Bill: People do believe in humanity
Moments after Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the ASSET bill at the Student Success Building on the Metropolitan State University Denver campus this week, a beaming President Stephen Jordan went to the microphone and put an exclamation point on an historic event.
ASSET, he proclaimed to ...
Citizenship must reflect more humane principles
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) finds the immigration bill introduced last week a modest start on reform, due to provisions that address family unification and workers rights and create a narrow path to citizenship for some immigrants. But much of the bill reproduces many of the ...