Against Her Choice: The History of Forced Sterilization
The recent allegations of the unconsented sterilizations performed on women in custody at a U.S. Immigration detention center have brought awareness to the sterilization history in the United States; specifically, to the act of involuntary sterilization of women of color, in lower economic statuses, with mental illnesses, and the history of the different sterilization laws in the United States. The majority of women who have been affected by involuntary sterilization are women from different ethnic backgrounds due to factors such as the desire to control minority populations, minimize state welfare aid, and prevent the reproduction of women with mental illnesses. There is also a clear distinction between states refusing to sterilize white women so they can reproduce and health institutions forcing or deceiving women in poverty or of color to make them sterile.
Stop Forced Sterilization
A poster created during the late 1900s due to the rise of forced sterilizations of women of color.
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