Las familias latinas de California debaten sobre el abortion

Throughout his political career, Sacramento councilman Eric Guerra and his mother, Amparo Pérez Quintero, 68, have found common ground on almost all topics: education, immigrant rights, public security and housing.

But cuando se trata de la libertad reproductiva, no están ni cerca de coincidentir.

Pérez Quintero, a devout Catholic, opposes abortion because he considers that children who are not born have a right to life. And although Guerra was raised under the same religious beliefs, he began to question orthodoxy when he was adolescent. Cuando terminó la universidad, Guerra had completely changed his opinion on abortion.

Guerra, who is now 44 years old, is a firm activist for women’s reproductive rights. Recently, Planned Parenthood supported the war in its campaign for a seat in the Assembly and said that “its history of defense of reproductive freedom speaks for itself.”

Con puntos de vista muy diferentes, Guerra and Pérez Quintero preferred, most of the time, not to start a conversation about abortion.

“Nuestra conversación sobre la libertad reproductiva no era una conversación”, said Guerra.

Eso cambió después de que la Corte Suprema revocara la protección del abortion en todo el país al anular el case Roe vs. Wade, putting reproductive rights in the mind of voters just before the midterm elections.

California’s Democratic legislators responded by placing Proposition 1 on the November electoral ballot. If approved, the measure would codify the right to abortion and access to anticonceptivos in the state constitution.

Political experts predict that the debate will mobilize Latinos and could stop the Republican Party’s progress with this block of selectors.

A survey carried out by Change Research revealed that 64% of Latinos from the disputed states are motivated to vote in November due to the decision of the Supreme Court. And more than 70% of Latinos said that the procedure should be legal, according to a survey carried out in August by the defense group UnidosUs and the organization of civic commitment Mi Familia Vota.

But for some Latinos, like Guerra and Pérez Quintero, the debate about the right to abortion also affects the family dynamic. Aunque algunas familias siguen emfrentadas, otras están descubriendo un unexpected terreno comun.

Tardaron 51 años en hablar del abortion

During almost all her life, Senator Susan Rubio, a Democrat from Baldwin Park, assumed that her mother Estela Rubio, 76 years old, opposed the right to abortion.

Rubio, de 51 años, basó esa idea en una educación “extremadamente religiosa” y en saber que su abuela siempre había desaprobado con vehemencia el abortion y los anticonceptivos. De niña, dijo que la familia evitaba hablar de sexo o salud reproductiva. The few discussions about abortion used to be an example of sin.

Pero en las semanas siguientes a la decisión del Corte Suprema, Rubio finally asked his mother directly. Para sorpresa de Rubio, his mother had a nuanced and more “progressive” perspective on the subject. Estela Rubio considers that abortion is a sin, but believes that the decision must fall on each woman.

“No one should tell you what you have to do with your life,” Rubio recalled, saying his mother in Spanish. “Eso lo resolve cada persona depending on the circumstances”.

Estela explained to Rubio a memory that molded his perspective, recalling that his aunt’s baby had died of hunger in Mexico.

“I explained that from the time I used reason, I quedó grabbed the history of my aunt and I didn’t have an option and I lived in constant regret,” said Rubio.

Lina-Maria Murillo, assistant professor of studies of gender, women and sexuality, history and Latinx studies at the University of Iowa, said that Estela’s opinion is not uncommon among women of color. Murillo said that his investigation shows that Latinas have a long history of being mentally open about the topic.

También se opuso al estereotipo de que los Latinos se oponen al abortion dueto a su fe. Murillo dijo que esa idea errónea se remonta en gran medida a la influencia de la Iglesia católica.

Una encuesta de Voto Latino published in May revealed that 68% of Catholic Latinos support the right of women to decide.

“There is this kind of mythology that older generations, Catholicism and religion automatically dictate how we feel about access to reproduction,” said Murillo. “Y creo que es peligroso continuar con esa narrativa, porque no es exacta”.

Más énfasis en lo positivo

Paula Villescaz, a candidate for a seat in the state senate that represents parts of Placer and Sacramento counties, also found out recently that her mother supports the right to abortion.

The finding of Villescaz, sin embargo, no se debe a las consecuencias de la Corte Suprema. Se produjo en julio, después de que Villescaz, de 33 años, descubriera que estaba embarazada.

In a conversation about pregnancy, her mother, María Ollis, 69 years old, said that she received medical care at Planned Parenthood during her pregnancy and that she understood the need for this “safety net”.

“El apoyo allí realente moldeó lo que son sus creencias ahora,” said Villescaz.

Villescaz, también criada como católica, nunca evitó intentionaladamente la conversación, pero asumió que las creencias religiosas de Ollis guiarían su postura sobre el tema.

“It’s much more likely that I would have a conversation with a complete stranger about my election and why I should push them to compromise electorally, than with my mother,” Villescaz said while laughing.

El exasambleísta Roger Niello, opponent republican de Villescaz en la contienda para el Senado, has declared that se opone al abortion con excepciones. También se opone a la Propuesta 1.

Belinda Campos, a professor in the Department of Chicanos and Latinos at the University of California, Irvine, explains that there is a cultural preference among Latinos, especially Mexican Americans, not to discuss topics that create conflict. El enfoque pone énfasis en expresar la positivity emocional y se aleja de participar en conversaciones que pueden no valer la pena. Campos called him una preference por la simpatía.

“The ideal cultural forms of managing emotions imply putting more emphasis on the positive and less on the negative,” said Campos. “Eso no es bueno. No es malo. Simplemente es así “.

“El derecho de los demás es la paz”

Both Guerra and his opponent in the contienda for the Assembly, Elk Grove Councilwoman Stephanie Nyguen, are Democrats and both support the right to abortion.

The few times that Guerra and Pérez Quintero discussed abortion, they usually ended in a discussion.

Pero después de que Planned Parenthood ads at war, tuvenon su primera “sincera conversation”. The support was produced just after a draft of the opinion of the Supreme Court that annulled Roe vs. Wade, indicado el camino que seguiría el tribunal.

El espadodo hizo que los amigos de Pérez Quintero called and asked if it was true that his son was supported by an organization like Planned Parenthood.

“Salió la mamá oso, no le gustó que señalaran a su hijo,” said Guerra.

Aunque no pudieron ponerse de acuerdo sobre el tema, Guerra cree que llegaron a una postura comun de respeto a la decisión de una persona. El avance se produjo después de que Guerra recited a famous quote from Presidente mexicano del siglo XIX Benito Juárez.

El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.

“She venerates President Benito Juárez … así que cuando empezamos a hablar de nuestros valores comunes, pues está el respeto a los demás,” said Guerra.

Hope that they can follow the “fruitful conversations”, even though I ended up with Pérez Quintero in the middle of his life.

“Ha sido comfortante, y también satisfactorio, que ahora pueda tener una conversación con mi madre como una compañera. … Si hay algo de esta experiencia que quiero seguir haciendo es que las conversaciones sean más frecuentes”, added Guerra.