Choice, Sterilization, and Eugenics in Twentieth Century Puerto Rico

Eugenics 3 of 4. In 1968, researchers found that one-third of all Puerto Rican women of childbearing age were surgically sterilized. This ignited the U.S. reproductive rights movement and the political demand to end forced sterilization in Puerto Rico. However, Puerto Rican women's reproduction has been tied to identity and nationalism since the United States assumed governance of Puerto Rico in 1898. Latin-x have a long and complex history with birth control and surgical sterilization. Chicanas and puertorriquenas have been subjected episodically to unwanted sterilizations in state institutions and public clinics while also struggling to access safe and affordable birth control, including surgical sterilization.

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