First of all I want to thank you for wanting to reach out to Hispanics with the pro-life message, and hopefully involve them in the battle for the right to life.

I am the Executive Director of Human Life International's Hispanic Division, Vida Humana Internacional (VHI). We work with Hispanics in the U.S. and 2l other countries, providing them with excellent educational materials, guidance and other types of support, and serving as liaison between the pro-life movement in the U.S. and that of each individual Hispanic country.

Human Life International (HLI) works all over the world, uniting groups and individuals for the promotion of life/family values. One of HLI's main objectives is to help unify and consolidate the pro-life/family movement throughout the world, so that groups and individuals will be able to share strategies, materials and expertise. VHI has established a similar network, composed of approximately 65 pro-life/family groups throughout the Hispanic countries.

There are quite a few Hispanic organizations in the U.S., most of them have not taken a public stand on abortion.

Pro-life groups need to begin to actively reach out to Hispanics in order to educate and mobilize them. The need for a Hispanic outreach should be presented to the leadership of pro-life groups and of our churches. A definite plan of action must be initiated. The first step could be through the local churches, perhaps contacting the priest or minister, or others who might be in charge of Hispanic ministries. They can help recruit others later. They can also help organize conferences which would include a video on abortion (our office has all the main ones, consult our catalog), followed by a talk (preferably by a Hispanic person or someone who can speak Spanish). The talk should briefly explain the situation in the U.S. where it concerns abortion and related issues, as well as alert Hispanics of the danger to them and their families.

One fact that should be especially stressed is that parents in the U.S. are loosing their rights over their children, they cannot even stop their daughters from aborting. This is an area which greatly concerns Hispanic parents, and most of them are not aware of this.

You will find that generally, the Hispanic media is more objective where it concerns the abortion issue, and many of the Hispanic journalists are pro-life or can be easily won over to our side. This has been my experience both in the U.S. and in Latin countries. Pro-life groups urgently need to contact those in their area.

Find out what publications in Spanish there are in your area, make an appointment to see the editor. Educate him or her and offer free articles and news for publication, in which you can include the name and address of your organization, should the readers wish to get involved or at least join. If you cannot get through to the editor, try a reporter or freelance writer. Send that person information and ask him or her to please write about it.

There are hundreds of publications in Spanish in the U.S., approximately 285 radio stations which broadcast in Spanish or have Spanish programming, seven television networks and 41 television stations that transmit throughout the U.S. and some also transmit to Latin America.

Satellite TV signals are sent from the U.S. and seen in a number of Latin American countries, where they are rapidly emerging as a very powerful cultural force, labeled by some as "cultural imperialism". This is an extremely negative influence, given the media bias and the pro-abortion slant of so many U.S. tv programs. CNN, Ted Turner's network, is also transmitting in Spanish, many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean receive its signal.

Where it concerns Hispanic TV, there is a desperate need to have more Hispanic pro-life leaders available for programs and interviews. There is also an immediate need to conduct a campaign in order to remove abortion ads from Hispanic radio, TV and newspapers. There are quite a few of them in California. I believe this is one of the projects being tackled by Hispanics for Life, that should be started in other states.

Vida Humana Internacional, in collaboration with EWTN (World Catholic tv), taped a 13 part series on abortion, which is a complete training on this subject. It even includes segments on crisis pregnancy centers, post abortion, the pro-life movement in the U.S., etc. It is available from our Miami office, consult our catalog.

The best place to start reaching out to Hispanic Catholics though, is at the meetings of the different apostolic groups like Charismatics, Cursillo and Christian Family Movement, etc. You will find in these and other Catholic movements, great leaders, for they are already motivated and active. They just need to be made aware of how much their help is needed in order to help save unborn babies' lives.

Contact pastors in heavily Hispanic areas (even if there are no religious services in that language), and ask for permission to put an ad in their church bulletin and/or to speak from the pulpit for a few minutes. Many parish bulletins have sections in Spanish, and many dioceses have newspapers in Spanish or at least a Spanish section. Get them to print an article or interview and include a phone number where they can contact you. The same can be done with publications in Evangelical churches.

Be sure to ask for an exhibit at fairs and other functions, especially if they are geared toward Hispanics. We recommend as an initial handout, our brochure "Lo que usted debe saber sobre el aborto" (What You Should Know About Abortion), which includes pictures. Please be sure to consult our catalog.

Miami's HLI office mails out articles and news which are published in Hispanic newspapers in the U.S. and abroad. It even offers a free e-mail information service which you can receive and make good use of. Contact : editor@vidahumana.org if you would like to receive it.

What appeals to Hispanics is not exactly what appeals to Americans. Because Hispanics are emotional people the approach should be different. They are more moved by personal stories and testimonies than by facts and statistics.

Human Life International's Spanish and bilingual conferences are a good source of speaker information and training materials in Spanish. Order our audio cassettes, they have excellent talks. At our Miami office we are ready to assist you whether you want to order some brochures in Spanish, subscribe to our international newsletter Escoge la Vida, or if you just need some quick advice.

Keep in mind that Hispanics are easier to win over to the pro-life cause and activism than most non-Hispanic anglos, and I speak from experience.

How do you recruit volunteers? All it takes to involve Hispanics is first of all prayer, then a pro-life Hispanic leader or a committed, faith filled, determined pro-life American, as John Finn, who helped found Hispanics for Life in California, can tell you. If most Hispanics were made aware of the racist anti-life attacks on them and their unborn children by organizations such as Planned Parenthood; as well as of the fact that they are loosing many of their parental rights over their minor children; they would get involved in the pro-life movement massively.

In reaching out to Hispanics, your most important tools are your educational materials. You need to have good, appealing brochures and flyers that are written in correct Spanish. Hispanics are won over by these because they see a real effort to bring the message to them. They are turned off by poor translations, and I have seen quite a few. Pro-life groups have to be careful about this, it is very important, especially if you want to get Hispanic professionals involved. Human Life International's office in Miami has a number of videos, books, brochures, etc. at your disposal, which are in our catalog. Vida Humana Internacional also has a very informative, complete website which can be of help to you. Our Internet address is: http://www.vidahumana.org.

Our section on abortion in our website includes not only pictures and descriptions where it concerns the development of the unborn baby and abortion, but also pictures and testimonies of abortion survivors, aborted women, ex-abortion clinic workers, etc. We have links (in English) to pro-life organizations in the U.S., as well as to pro-life groups in Latin America and Spain. We also have a section in Spanish called "Consejeros en Línea" (Online counselors), to help women who are considering abortion, choose life.

Our trimonthly newsletter Escoge la Vida is posted on Internet after it is printed, or you may subscribe for $20 a year. You may take from our newsletter and/or from our website articles, news, etc. for non-profit educational purposes by crediting our organization (VHI) and if possible giving our address, telephone number, webpage, etc., so others can obtain more pro-life/family materials in Spanish.

Having a page or two in Spanish in your pro-life publication and distributing it at Spanish language religious services and other functions in your area, is a good way to get Hispanics educated on pro-life issues and involved.

I am sure that if you use these and many other means at your disposal to make Hispanics in your community aware of pro-life issues, educate them and help them to organize themselves for action; you will be amazed at the success you will achieve.

Good luck, and don't forget that prayer moves mountains! God bless you!