EP 89: The Forced Sterilization of Latina Women

This week on Hashtag History, we are discussing the forced sterilization of thousands of Latinas here in California throughout the 20th century. In 1909, California passed a eugenics law that allowed for the sterilization of people considered to be “unfit or feeble-minded” unquote. Of the 20,000 people forcibly sterilized in California between the years of 1909 and 1979, it was found that Latinas carried a nearly 60% higher risk of forced sterilization than any other racial group. Perhaps one of the most devastating things about this dark chapter in History are the heartbreaking stories of numerous women attempting to get pregnant; not realizing that they had been sterilized. In particular, there was a groundbreaking class action lawsuit in the 1970s that ten Latina women would bring forward, proving that they had been coerced into signing what many of them did not realize was a sterilization consent form. Due to a language barrier and the fact that some of these women were forced to sign this form while they were literally in labor, many of them did not realize that they had been sterilized until weeks and months later; some of them didn’t realize it until they were attempting to get pregnant again.

This episode does have a specific focus on the sterilization of Latina women in California throughout the 20th century. But that isn’t to ignore the horrendous stories of Black and Indigenous women - as well as women with disabilities - that were also forcibly sterilized. Additionally, this episode does have a narrow focus on California as California made up 80% of sterilizations throughout the United States during this time period! We do, however, want to acknowledge that harmful eugenics laws were passed throughout the United States and affected tens of thousands of people nationwide. 

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