Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights

Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights (LRHRR) was started in New York City by a group of Latina organizers in October 1989. It was the only group in the state focused on helping Latinas get better health care and reproductive services.[1]

The Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights closed in 1998 because it did not have enough resources to continue its work.

What LRHRR Did

LRHRR believed health care should include both medical and social services.[2] They worked with different groups to talk about how religious and cultural beliefs affect the health care Latinas receive. From these talks, they created a plan to improve health care policies for Latinas.

The first leader of the group was Wilma Montanez. Luz Rodriguez took over as director in 1996.

Key Activities

In 1992, LRHRR trained more than 5,000 people to protect health clinics from abortion protesters during a major protest in the South Bronx.[3]

In 1997 and 1998, LRHRR brought together 16 women of color organizations to talk about health issues like infections affecting women. These meetings helped start the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. Luz Rodriguez got a $60,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to support this work.

References

  1. Silliman, Jael; Gerber, Marlène; Ross, Loretta; Gutiérrez Lima, Elena (2016). Undivided rights: women of color organize for reproductive justice (2nd ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books. ISBN 978-1-60846-617-7.
  2. Nelson, Jennifer (2015). More than medicine: a history of the feminist women's health movement. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-6290-5.
  3. Latina Roundtable On Health And Reproductive Rights Media

    (in en) Abortion Foes See Tactics Backfire in New York (Published 1992). 1992-07-19. https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/19/nyregion/abortion-foes-see-tactics-backfire-in-new-york.html. Retrieved 2024-12-14.