Guatemalan doctor talks about family planning

A doctor from Guatemala came to Iowa this week to bring the message of family planning. Dr. Gloria Cospin de Hernandez worked for years in her own country to raise awareness about population growth and the need for sex education for young people and adults alike.She says very young girls, 13 or 14 years old, get pregnant and are thrown out of their homes to live on the street, in poverty. She says those “street girls” with their babies are a big social problem. Hernandez says birth control is important, but first must come education.She says young people must know the risks of sexual activity, and if they already have children, young women need a place to live, finish school, and care for their children. Hernandez has been working in her native country for 23 years to educate people about methods and reasons for family planning.Some of the old problems have been solved in that time, but there are always new ones, she says. Dr Hernandez spoke to about 200 people at Drake University on Tuesday as part of the national “PLAN-et” campaign, created to raise awareness of the need for international family planning.