Latinos are more pro-choice than ever before. What spurred this change?
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I'm in Phoenix, Arizona, where I am inside a Winnebago. All right, I'll explain why we're in an RV in a moment. But we're here in Arizona all week because this is a state that President Biden won by a sliver back in 2020 by just over 10,000 votes.

And Arizona Latinos helped deliver that victory. They're a quarter of all eligible voters in this state. And that's the largest percentage of Latino voters in any battleground state. On your next slide, that's when you're going to turn left. And that is why Mayra Rodriguez is going directly after this block of voters on the issue she cares the most about, abortion.

even if it means enduring lousy air conditioning in this RV when it's 108 degrees outside. Oh, you get sweaty. It is hot, right? And this is what I tell my children and any people that complain about this heat. If you don't like the heat, then imagine hell, right? Okay.

to Rodriguez would be seeing Prop 139 pass. That's a ballot measure that would expand access to abortion beyond the current 15 weeks here in Arizona and would enshrine it as a right under the state's constitution.

Which brings us back to the Winnebago. We cannot afford the big billboards and the big media, the other side can't. And you figure, why do I need to buy a whole bunch of billboards if I have one movable billboard? Exactly what we thought, right? This movable billboard is emblazoned with urgent warnings about abortion, but...

Rodriguez has an uphill battle here because, according to Pew Research Center, 62 percent of Latinos believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Consider this. Far more Latino voters support abortion rights now than 20 years ago. Why this dramatic shift? From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang.

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It's Consider This from NPR. Two decades ago, only a third of Latinos believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Today, that number has risen to 62 percent. So why are Latino voters in this country changing their minds about abortion? Well,

Well, to help us answer that question, we talked to four Latinas here in Arizona of different generations. See, we can ride or run, and if this is our best spot, then we'll park. Mayra Rodriguez offers one explanation as we're lumbering along the streets of North Phoenix. I think that 20 years ago, people were more religious, meaning that... You mean Latino people? Latino people, you know, they were more active. As Catholics, as you can see, the Catholics have really dropped a lot of...

We're pulling into a parking lot outside a Hispanic grocery store, and Rodriguez starts passing out flyers to shoppers. This election means so much to her. It's the first time Rodriguez will ever be voting in the U.S. She just became a citizen last year, after arriving here from Mexico City 30 years ago. Back then, she supported abortion rights. She even got a job at Planned Parenthood.

But you know, after a decade and a half there, her opinion began to change. It's very easy when you sell the idea of abortion and describe it, what it's on paper. And very different when you get to see the aftermath of the abortion or where you are in the abortion facility. You know, I can't help but...

realize as we're talking that you moved from maybe a more progressive place on abortion to a more conservative place, which is sort of the opposite direction than many Latino voters in the U.S. Yeah, actually, my kid would agree with you. My son's just like, Mom, you like swimming against the current. Because, you know, when I was on the abortion side, most Hispanics were against abortion. And now I'm on the pro-life side, a lot of Hispanics are going the opposite direction. At this point, a woman driving by gives her the finger.

Rodriguez barely flinches because she gets this a lot. She's been cut off on the road, harassed by drivers, shooed away from parking lots by police and store owners. And just last week, someone vandalized the RV door. Because they tried to break in on it right here. But every now and then, Rodriguez does connect with someone. Like Joe Hernandez, who spots the RV in the parking lot and walks right up. I'm not a woman, but you gotta let it live.

You can't stop what God does. It's not right. If you believe in God,

I feel that the perception is that we don't have abortions because we live inside the Catholic Church and we just follow whatever the priest says we will do. In general, the perception about Latinos is so wrong. This is Raquel Salas. We met up with her and her daughter, Rebecca, who was home from college for the weekend. This is like clothes that I like washed here. You bring your laundry home even though you're an hour and a half drive away? Yes.

The Salas family emigrated from Hermosillo, Mexico in 2011, when Rebecca was just seven years old. And when she was growing up, the mere topic of abortion never came up. And Raquel says that was true for her, too, as a girl in Mexico. Abortion, it was taboo. It was not an option. So

So my mom got pregnant when she was 16. So she had me at 17. Back then, when girls got pregnant, they either came to the U.S. to get an abortion so nobody knew or they would force them to get married. Because abortion was largely illegal throughout Mexico until just last year. Yes. You don't talk about it. It's bad.

But not talking about it? Well, all of that changed between Raquel and Rebecca on June 24th, 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Rebecca was on a trip in Italy when she found out. The first thing I did was call my mom, and I was like, what is going on? I don't understand. And, you know, we talked about it, but I was just, I was livid. When Rebecca got home, she and her mom joined a protest at the state capitol, even though Raquel's views on abortion remain current.

Still today, if you ask me, do you agree with abortion? If I need to answer that question in one word, I would say no. But it's not a white and black thing. And the way I see it right now is...

You don't take the right away from everybody just because some people will use it as a contraceptive, which is what I'm really against. But I know there's many different shades. You don't feel that your personal beliefs should block access to abortions for other people? I should not take that right away from anyone. Now, both Raquel and Rebecca say they would never get an abortion themselves, but they both want to protect access for others.

I asked them if they knew why more and more Latinos feel that way too. I'm guessing, but I know that after Trump's presidency, a lot of people got scared. Many of our rights were being endangered. And when they start limiting rights, they're affecting the most underserved population. You know, and if you do this to my neighbor, what's coming next? Oh.

Well, a few hours southeast of Phoenix, we meet someone who believes she knows all too well what's coming next. This place is very magical. We're in Cochise Stronghold, a remote canyon dotted with craggy granite boulders. This

This place was named after an Apache leader who stood up to U.S. federal troops in the 19th century. I can feel very connected with nature, with the ancestors. Margarita Acosta was drawn to the energy of this land two decades ago. So when you start, you know, feeling like that, oh...

You don't feel little anymore. Acosta has found peace here. She's only just started talking publicly about something that happened 40 years ago. When you realize you're pregnant, now what are you going to do? Who are you going to call? How are you going to do this?

Acosta was 29 and living in Bogota when she found out she was pregnant. But abortion was illegal in Colombia at the time. You could spend years in prison just for getting caught inside a clinic. Still, she knew she did not want to have the baby. So she found a secret clinic and made an appointment. I remember, like, just a regular apartment complex.

It was in the third floor and there was no lift. No elevator. No elevator. And the doctor said, like, did you come alone? I said, yeah. And he said, well, no anesthesia because you're going to have to walk outside yourself. I'm like, okay, okay. So he did his thing and then, you know, they gave me a pad and he said, you know, if you

You're going to bleed a lot. But if it's more than three days and it's a lot, and it's a lot of pain, go to the emergency room. Don't come here. I'm like, okay. I remember going down the steps, just looking at the floor, and I had high heels on.

Acosta says she actually considered herself lucky because she physically recovered and was able to emigrate to Arizona four years later. Why do you think it took you 40 years to talk about it then? Because it's so covered with shame. It's covered with shame and silence. Like, we don't talk about this. When you first came to the U.S., you knew it was legal, abortion. Roe v. Wade was the law of the land.

Did you have this sense that like it would always be legal here? What did the U.S. feel like?

In that sense, compared to Colombia. Well, more freedom, of course, you know. Because once you have something like that banned, you set the opportunity for people to take advantage of that. When something is illegal, you have to go underground. Almost 40 years later, after you arrived here, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

What went through your mind at that point? It was the same year that it was legalized in Colombia. Exactly. Two things going in opposite directions at the exact same time. What did that feel like? Maybe we were not behind. Maybe we were ahead. You mean Colombia? Yeah. Maybe this country that they say that we're behind, maybe we're ahead because...

I know it's coming for you now. You have to pay attention. Pay attention, she says, to what can happen when a country curtails the right to choose. The story of Colombia points to another reason we heard this week for the rising support for abortion rights among Latinos. They see laws changing in their home countries. The so-called Green Wave has expanded abortion access in Latin American countries like Argentina, Mexico, as well as Colombia.

And now, in a little under three weeks, Latino voters will help decide the future of abortion rights right here in Arizona.

This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell, Janaki Mehta, and Catherine Fink. It was edited by William Troop. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. And one more thing before we go. You can now enjoy the Consider This newsletter. We still help you break down a major story of the day, but you'll also get to know our producers and hosts and some moments of joy from the All Things Considered team. You can sign up at npr.org slash consider this newsletter.

It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Elsa Chang.

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