Women in the Mexican-American community: Religion, culture, and reproductive attitudes and experiences

The goals of this study were (a) to provide descriptive information on the reproductive attitudes and behavior of Mexican-American women and (b) to investigate the relationship of socioeconomic status, acculturation, and religiosity with these attitudes and experiences. Data were obtained in personal interviews with 137 Mexican-American women visiting a community health center. Women were asked questions about religion, motherhood and pregnancy, sexuality, and unwanted pregnancy and abortion. The results indicate a great heterogeneity, even among relatively low-income and unacculturated Mexican-American women, in attitudes and experiences. Socioeconomic status, degree of religiosity, and degree of acculturation were associated with women's reproductive attitudes. Overall, the results contradict common stereotypes that present Mexican-American women as dominated by Catholic doctrine, passive in fertility decisions, and desirous of large families.