Hi, the U.S. has done forced sterilizations on WOC since forever. That doesn't make the fact that it's STILL happening any less of a crime, but as with family separation, not a new thing. Read yer history folks!
This was a major reason for conflict between 2nd wave white feminists, who thought waiting periods for abortions were terrible, and WOC who were like...if you're being forced, though, a waiting period might be helpful. Good to know where everyone is coming from!
A brief and not comprehensive history of forced sterilization in America:
1976, U.S. gov admits to sterilizing 3,406 American Indian women without their permission between 1973 and 1976 https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/543.html
During the height of U.S. eugenics, 60,000 people (mostly women but some men too) were sterilized because they were deemed "unfit" to breed because they were mentally unstable or disabled. At the time, being a "promiscuous" woman fell into that category. https://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics/
You can follow @amywestervelt.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: