A group of Iowans who visited Mexico recently returned to tell about the poverty in underdeveloped regions, and U-S policy that denies birth-control assistance to poor residents there. Susan Newbury was one of the group who went to the Yucatan peninsula to learn. She says they went to see ways they might help Mexico because it’s so closely connected to the U-S. The group was affiliated with Planned Parenthood and “Partners of the Americas.” Newbury says the poverty was overwhelming, especially in rural areas.People don’t have access to basic healthcare, let alone relative luxuries like birth control, even simple methods. The group’s tour was made easier by Iowan Mariana Boley who works at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Des Moines and speaks both English and Spanish. She says perhaps because it’s relatively close to the US, she was surprised to see the region was so poor. She says the group spoke to native Mayan women who talked of their desire to plan the number of children in their family because they know it’s easier to feed and care for fewer children.