History of Forced Sterilizations in the U.S.

Introduction

• Recent whistleblower account of forced sterilizations in a Georgia ICE detention facility.
• Not a new occurrence; U.S. has a history of forced sterilizations targeting marginalized groups.

Eugenics Movement

• Aimed to eliminate "undesirable" traits based on racist theories.
• Gained popularity in the 1920s, coinciding with anti-immigrant sentiment and the Great Migration.

Buck v. Bell Case (1927)

• Supreme Court legalized compulsory sterilizations in Virginia.
• Over 30 states passed legislation supporting sterilizations, primarily targeting Black women and immigrants.
• The ruling remains unoverturned.

Influence on Nazi Germany

• Hitler reportedly studied U.S. sterilization laws.

Continued Sterilization Abuse

• Deceptive medical practices persisted post-eugenics era.
• "Mississippi Appendectomies" - unnecessary hysterectomies on Black women.

Notable Cases

• Fannie Lou Hamer: underwent sterilization without consent in 1961.
• North Carolina: Sterilized over 600 people from 1930s-70s, primarily Black women, including girls as young as nine.

California and Mexican Women

• State led in non-consensual sterilizations (~20,000 cases).
• Targeted women with Spanish surnames, often of Mexican descent.
• 2015 film "No Más Bebés" documents a class-action lawsuit over these practices.

Puerto Rico

• U.S. efforts in population control post-1898.
• By 1976, 1 in 3 Puerto Rican women sterilized under coercion.

Indigenous Women

• 25-50% of Native women sterilized by the Indian Health Service between 1970-1976.
• Cases like the sterilization of Cheyenne girls in Montana without consent.

Women’s Movement of the 1970s

• Fought against sterilization abuse.
• Led to 1974 guidelines by the Department of Health and Human Services, including a waiting period and age restrictions.

Modern Issues

• Continued sterilizations in prisons: ~150 illegal sterilizations in California prisons (2006-2010), mainly targeting Black and Latina women.
• Recent allegations in ICE facilities, highlighting neglect and abuses.

Conclusion

• Forced sterilizations are part of a broader historical pattern of oppression.
• Requires a powerful movement to eradicate these abuses permanently.