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July 11,2012
Teen Pregnancy Woes
c o n t i n u e d f r o m front
African-American teens, the preg
nancy rate was down b y . 1 percent,
but was still 2.6 times higher than
the rate for white teens.
Improving the outcomes will re
quire intervention, Saragoza said.
“The reality is that kids are hav
ing sex, but I think one part of the
work is to provide information about
behavior, healthy relationships, and
if you are a teen parent, how this will
impact your life,” she said.
Some of the consequences of
teen pregnancy are the impacts it
has on young women continuing
their education.“We know teen preg
nancy and births are associated with
higher school dropout rates and
affect economic and employment
opportunities,” Saragoza said.
Reducing the rate and disparities
of teen pregnancy for minority com
munities depends on prevention
efforts.
“Our staff encourages kids that
vices are abortion services.
“One in five American women
has chosen Planned Parenthood for
health care at least once in her life,
and those who seek reproductive
healthcare in the northwest are no
different,” Delapoer said.
Planned Parenthood, the largest
non-profit family planning and re
productive rights organization in
Oregon and Southwest Washing
ton, provides more than 60,000
women, men and teens with ser
vices each year.
“The vast majority— 89 percent
- o f PPCW ’s patients are low-in
come. Many of our patients are
uninsured or underinsured,” she
said.
“It’s critical for our patients that
we co n tin u e to find w ays to
publically fund access to contra
ception,” said Delapoer, who added
75 percent of Planned Parenthood’s
patients in Oregon rely on some
type of federal funding to pay for
their health care.
Page 9
Aim to Understand Cancer
Volunteer today for a
cancer-free tomorrow
The A m erican C ancer S ociety seeks
Portlanders help in identifying potential risks
of cancer in a study, which happens every 20
years.
Throughout the month of July, you can fight
back against cancer and volunteer to take part
in the organization’s nation-wide study, which
will help researchers better understand the
genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors
that potentially cause or prevent the disease.
The research study is the third conducted
by the American Cancer Society known as
the Cancer Prevention Study (CPS), which in
the past has identified both smoking and obe
sity as being tied to cancer throughout the
duration of the program that began in the 50s.
According to the organization, the data collected
during the studies is critical to become closer to a
cure.
This week, the institution will be set up CPS-3
participation sites in several downtown locations,
from July 10-14.
Participation includes a 30-minute commitment
to enroll, before blood will be drawn. From there,
participants will receive periodic surveys asking
for information on lifestyle, behaviors, and other
factors related to their health.
Participants must be between the ages o f 30-65,
with no personal history of cancer. Appointments
can be made at a participation site at several
locations around the downtown metro area.
For more information, to set up an appointment,
or identify locations, visit www.cps3portland.org.
We provide teens with comprehensive,
medically accurate, age-appropriate
sexual and reproductive health
Uz Delapoer, communications director for
information. — Planned
Parenthood Colombia Willamette
use the school based health centers
to include their paren ts,” said
Saragoza, who added the impor-
tance in ensuring state programs
and projects meet the needs by in-
teracting with the community.
Through education and health
care services, Planned Parenthood
has worked for many years to re-
duce the raté of teen pregnancy
throughout the country, providing
education and outreach programs
to help teens make smart, healthy
decisions.
“We provide teens with compre-
hensive, medically accurate, age-
appropriate sexual and reproduc-
tive health information,” said Liz
Delapoer, communications director
for Planned Parenthood Colombia
Willamette. “Our preventive health
care services work to keep teens
and women healthy and prevent
unintended pregnancies.”
Still, she said, there needs to be
an increase in both funds and atten
tion for reproductive health for resi
dents of all ages.
According to Delapoer, Planned
Parenthood services help prevent
more than 584,000 unintended preg-
nancies each year throughout the
country, and the number of abortions
has also been reduced, as education
and preventative services became
more readily available.
She said less than five percent of
Planned Parenthood’s health ser-
Clients of the organization span
across all generations, although the
majority of patients are between the
ages of 20 to 29, but seven percent
of their services are provided for
individuals under the age of 18-
years-old.
“Access to birth control prevents
unintended pregnancies, improves
health outcomes for women and
families, and enables women to bet-
ter participate in the workplace and
provide for their families,” she said,
“Contraception is not just about
the young women taking responsi-
bility, but about the young men
taking responsibility as well,” said
Saragoza.
But more than access to contra-
ception, she said teens have ex-
pressed the need to be able to talk to
their parents about sex and repro-
ductive health. “It is important that
as a parent that you are conveying
the most useful information to your
son and daughter,” said Saragoza.
From her own experiences as a
mother, Saragoza said she believes
teens appreciate when parents are
open, accessible and trusting of
their children.
“Parents need to stay calm, even
at the most difficult questions,” she
said. “We need to be able to answer
questions and listen to their point of
view. That is really easy to say, but
not always easy to do, but it is
important.”
Dr. Billy R. Flowers (above center) and his skilled s ta ff are ready to help those in need.
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