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
Preventing the exorbitant cost of student mobility
The societal cost of a high school dropout has been calculated into actual dollars and cents and circulated for public awareness. What is less known, though, is the exorbitant cost to a childs potential achievement caused by switching schools for reasons other than grade level progression an ...
Legislating an end to racial profiling
No one denies at least openly that racial profiling is bad practice. The question at hand, and one raised during a Senate Committee hearing on civil and human rights last week, is how to end it.
On Tuesday, April 17, the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights ...
Community honors beloved poet, humanitarian
Praise, good memories and unconditional love were abundant this week as friends and family gathered to remember humanitarian and poet Abelardo Lalo Delgado at the 5th Annual Lalo Delgado Poetry Festival held at the St. Cajetans Center on the Auraria Campus, sponsored by the MSCD Presidents ...
Young mothers share literary inspirations
The roots of Da de los Nios (April 30th) began in Latin Amrica as a holiday honoring children and has been adopted by the United States with a variety of festivities that highlight the beauty of children Through The Weekly Issue/El Semanarios Student Writing Project, we highlight the ...
No one denies at least openly that racial profiling is bad practice. The question at hand, and one raised during a Senate Committee hearing on civil and human rights last week, is how to end it.
On Tuesday, April 17, the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights ...
view more videos
view more photos
El Semanario New Mexico 
El Semanario