Kamala Harris turns to Latinas in the fight for reproductive rights

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Top 1 issue: Harris appeals to Latina lawmakers

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet this Friday with Latina state legislators "at the forefront of the fight" for abortion rights to discuss "the need to build a diverse coalition to repel attacks" on reproductive health, a person reported. who works in the White House exclusively for Axios Latino.

Why It Matters

: Harris has held several meetings with state lawmakers, activists, religious leaders, and healthcare providers since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v.

Wade.

• But this is the first exclusively with Latino policies.

• Abortion has become one of the main issues in the Democratic campaign for the November midterm elections.

More details:

The Democratic lawmakers at the meeting are from Arizona, Texas, Utah, Nevada, New York, Illinois and Kansas.

• The meeting focuses on reproductive and sexual rights, but will also cover other health issues.

  Latinos have less access to private health insurance than non-Hispanic blacks and whites.

Kamala Harris launches campaign to combat cyberbullying against women, girls and LGBTQ people

June 17, 202200:33

General panorama:

Latinx, black, Asian and Native American people are especially affected when the right to abortion is restricted, since they have less access in general to health care (in case of, for example, a dangerous pregnancy) and days off or leaves with sick pay or to care for a newborn.

• About 25% of those seeking an abortion in the United States are Hispanic, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute;

  furthermore, three-quarters of those who abort are from low-income households.

The fact:

Half of Latinos believe that abortion should be legal, according to an Ipsos poll for Axios Latino/Noticias Telemundo a few days before the Supreme Court decision was announced.

2. Barriers that paralyze economic mobility

A

found that women's median wages fall as abortion restrictions are enacted in their states, as some quit working or accept lower wages.

Details

: Women of childbearing age are more likely to accept lower-quality, lower-paying jobs.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

• "Gender inequality is closely related to freedom and opportunity," say the study's authors, "and state decisions can have a significant impact on women's economic opportunities."

• The study points to a bleak economic future for women now that some states are restricting abortion following the Supreme Court decision, writes Emily Peck in Axios.

What they found

: The researchers analyzed data from 1973 (when the Roe v. Wade decision that cemented federal abortion-rights protections was issued) through 2016. They compared states that have abortion restrictions in place and those that don't.

• Each new restriction was associated with a 5% drop in the average salary of a premenopausal woman, and an 11% increase in the probability that they would stay at home without paid employment.

• The final study will be published in 2023 in the Indiana Law Journal.

3. Financing

start-ups

A Latino group that connects

investors with startups and pushes the media to diversify has raised $100 million for its first Latino startup fund.

Why It Matters

: Less than 1% of funding from the top 25 venture capital and private equity firms ends up in the hands of Latino-owned companies.

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

News Momentum

: The L'ATTITUDE Ventures fund benefited from substantial investment from JPMorgan Chase, Trujillo Group and Bank of America.

• Other investors include UC Investments and MassMutual, Barclays, Royal Bank of Canada, and Polaris Limited Partners.

• Sol Trujillo, founder and general partner of L'ATTITUDE Ventures, said the fund is a first step toward an investment

  boom

  for Hispanic-owned startups.

Background

: Latino entrepreneurs were responsible for close to 50% of the net growth of new small businesses in the United States in the last decade, based on data from 2007 to 2017.

• The total economic output of Latinos in the US was $2.7 trillion in 2019, which would represent the seventh largest GDP in the world if they were an independent country, according to a study by the Latino Donor Collaborative.

4. A Latino advisor to the White House is fired

A Hispanic adviser to the president, Joe Biden,

left office this Wednesday, assuring that he is proud of the work that the Government has done in Latino communities.

The Big Picture

: Adrian Saenz, who also held a position in the Barack Obama Administration, was appointed deputy director of the Office of Public Participation (OPE) in early 2021. He helped oversee a department tasked with connecting the White House with shareholders and voters.

Saenz is also a special adviser to the president.

Adrian SaenzCourtesy

• He left his position to spend more time with his family.

Saenz, who hails from South Texas

, helped put together a team that has worked with Latino civil rights groups and families of Uvalde shooting victims, while also conducting an educational campaign on COVID vaccines. -19 and helped make them more accessible.

• His boss, Cedric Richmond, told Axios Latino that Sáenz's experience and "political insight were invaluable."

In His Own Words

: Saenz celebrated that OPE has worked with many demographic groups on important issues, including the economy and the pandemic.

• "The president has talked a lot about investing and rebuilding the economy, and that has a positive impact on the Latino communities from where I come from, in South Texas, to the Latino communities on the coasts and in the Midwest," Saenz said. .

5. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean

1. Nicaragua shut down

six radio stations linked to Catholic groups in another campaign against what the government considers dissidence.

• Some Catholic bishops acted as mediators when the opposition and President Daniel Ortega held talks in 2018 during massive protests against his regime.

  Since then, Ortega has placed more emphasis on his assertion that the Catholic Church has "coup" plans.

Aníbal Torres in March 2022, when he was Peruvian Prime Minister, with President Pedro CastilloÁngela Ponce/Bloomberg via Getty Images

2. Peruvian Prime Minister Aníbal Torres

requested his resignation on Wednesday, amid growing problems for President Pedro Castillo, who is being investigated for corruption.

• Torres, who is the fourth prime minister in the Castillo government and had only been in office for five months, said he wants to return to teaching.

• He is one of several high-level officials who have left or been replaced since Castillo took office a year ago.

Pachanga Thursday

Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios.

Photo courtesy of Erik Cardenas

Today's party was won by Erik Cárdenas, who along with Mariza Hardin founded a virtual health care service for Latinos in California.

Zócalo Health was launched in June to help find a doctor's appointment on the same day, access wellness services and contact health promoters.

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