#ForcedSterilization of #DisabledPeople Isn’t a Relic of the Past

In a majority of states, #eugenics-era laws still let doctors sterilize disabled patients against their will.

by Julia Métraux
February 27, 2025

"'In order to prevent our being swamped with incompetence,' Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote for the majority in 1927’s Buck v. Bell, the state could—and should—'prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind.' Forced sterilization, the court held, was not only legal but laudable.

"In 1924, 17-year-old Carrie Buck was institutionalized, having been deemed 'feebleminded' on the grounds of 'promiscuous' behavior. In reality, Buck was raped by her foster family’s nephew. Three years later, with the Court’s blessing, Virginia’s 'State Colony of Epileptics and Feeble Minded' sterilized Buck against her will. The decision, passed at the height of the 20th-century eugenics movement, has never been overturned.

"'There’s a very different standard being applied to disabled people’s autonomy.'

"To this day, 31 states and #WashingtonDC, still have laws on the books that allow for the practice—and just two, #Alaska and #NorthCarolina, have laws that fully ban the #nonconsensual #sterilization of disabled people, according to a 2022 report from the National Women’s Law Center. There’s no official account of just how many disabled people have been sterilized under those laws.

"Some of these laws aren’t even that old. In 2019, #Iowa and #Nevada passed new forced sterilization laws that applied to people under #guardianship. Both bills passed unanimously, and the end result is consistent with laws on the books in other states. There was no discourse among politicians—let alone objections—about the ethics of sterilizing disabled people without their consent.

"Sterilization and Social Justice Lab co-director and founder Alexandra Minna Stern said that early IQ tests, which sought to measure intelligence in part on the basis of class- and culture-based questions involving Beethoven’s sonatas, the early United States, and college athletics, were 'used to categorize people who would then be targeted for sterilization,' generally those who were '#marginalized or maligned in some way': in #California and the #Southwest, often #MexicanAmericans; nationwide, #Black, #Indigenous and #poorer white Americans, particularly women. The people behind the tests, Stern says, were 'white, #elite men who wanted to create a certain type of society in their own image.'

"NWLC senior counsel for health equity and justice Ma’ayan Anafi, who is also disabled, told Mother Jones that “forced sterilization laws are a really powerful example of how violations of disabled people’s bodies and rights are baked into our legal system today.”

Read more:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/forced-sterilization-eugenics-scotus-state-laws/
#USPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony

America’s Forgotten History of #ForcedSterilization

By Sanjana Manjeshwar on November 4, 2020

"In early September, a nurse working at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) detention center in #Georgia came forward with shocking allegations of medical neglect and abuse, claiming that numerous involuntary #hysterectomies (uterus removal surgeries) were performed on detained #ImmigrantWomen. This allegation understandably evoked fury and outrage among the general public, with numerous people denouncing it as a #HumanRights violation and yet another example of the current administration’s cruelty towards women and immigrants. Many people, including prominent liberal politicians and public figures, viewed it as something distinctly un-American and at odds with our country’s values — a common refrain that echoed in response to the allegation was 'This isn’t the America I know.' There were countless comparisons to #NaziGermany and other #totalitarian, human rights-abusing regimes, as well as a pervasive sense that the United States was engaging in a uniquely cruel and unprecedented act. Unfortunately, this is a misleading impression.

"While the allegations against ICE are undoubtedly horrific and must be investigated, they are not at all unprecedented or un-American — in fact, they are very American. The United States has a long, egregious, and largely unknown history of eugenics and forced #sterilization, primarily directed towards #PoorWomen, #DisabledWomen, and #WomenOfColor.

"The American #eugenics movement originated in the late 1800s and has always been undeniably based in #racism and #nativism. The word 'eugenics' originally referred to the biological improvement of human genes, but was used as a pseudoscience to justify discriminatory and destructive acts against supposedly undesirable people, such as extremely restrictive #ImmigrationLaws, #AntiMiscegenationLaws, and forced sterilization. The ultimate goal of the eugenics movement was to 'breed out' undesirable traits in order to create a society with a 'superior' genetic makeup, which essentially meant reducing the population of the #NonWhite and the mentally ill. The eugenics movement was widely accepted in American society well into the 20th century, and was not at all relegated to the fringes of society like one might expect. In fact, most states had federally funded eugenics boards, and state-ordered sterilization was a common occurrence. Sterilization was seen as one of the most effective ways to stem the growth of an 'undesirable' population, since ending a woman’s reproductive capabilities meant that she would no longer be able to contribute to the population.

"The Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell (1927) decided that a Virginia law authorizing the mandatory sterilization of inmates in mental institutions was constitutional. #CarrieBuck, a 'feeble minded woman' whose mental illness had been in her family for the past three generations, was committed to a state mental institution and was set to undergo a sterilization procedure which required a hearing. The Supreme Court found that the Virginia law was valuable and did not violate the Constitution, and would prevent the United States from 'being swamped with incompetence…Three generations of imbeciles is enough.' The Court has never explicitly overturned #BuckVersusBell.

"California’s '#AsexualizationActs' in the 1910s and 1920s led to the sterilization of 20,000 disproportionately #Black and #Mexican people who were deemed to be mentally ill. #Hitler and the #Nazis were reportedly inspired by #California’s laws when formulating their own #genocidal eugenics policies in the 1930s. When discussing the Asexualization Acts of California, Hitler wrote, 'There is today one state in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception [of citizenship] are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but the #UnitedStates.'

"Throughout the 20th century, nearly 70,0000 people (overwhelmingly working-class women of color) were sterilized in over 30 states. #Black women, #Latina women, and #NativeAmerican women were specifically targeted. From the 1930s to the 1970s, nearly one-third of the women in #PuertoRico, a U.S. territory, were coerced into sterilization when government officials claimed that Puerto Rico’s economy would benefit from a reduced population. Sterilization was so common that it became known as '#LaOperación (The Operation)' among Puerto Ricans.

"Black women were also disproportionately and forcibly sterilized and subjected to reproductive abuse. In #NorthCarolina in the 1960s, Black women made up 65 percent of all sterilizations of women, although they were only 25 percent of the population. One Black woman who was subjected to a forced hysterectomy during this time was #FannieLouHamer, a renowned #CivilRights activist. Hamer described how nonconsensual sterilizations of working-class Black women in the South were so common that they were colloquially known as a '#MississippiAppendectomy'.

"Additionally, many Native American women were sterilized against their will. According to a report by historian Jane Lawrence, the Indian Health Service was accused of sterilizing nearly 25% of #Indigenous women during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973, the year that Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court, supposedly ensuring reproductive rights for all American women, the reproductive rights of thousands of Indigenous women were entirely ignored as they were forcibly sterilized.

"Forced sterilization, especially in exchange for a sentence reduction, occurs often in the criminal #LegalSystem today. Government-sanctioned efforts to prevent incarcerated people from reproducing were widespread in the 20th century, and still continue today. In 2017, a judge in #Tennessee offered to reduce the jail sentences of convicted people who appeared before him in court if they
'volunteered' to undergo sterilization. In 2009, a 21-year-old woman in #WestVirginia convicted of #marijuana possession underwent sterilization as part of her probation. In 2018, an #Oklahoma woman convicted of cashing a counterfeit check received a reduced sentence after undergoing sterilization at the suggestion of the judge. According to a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, almost 150 women considered likely to return to prison were sterilized in California prisons between 2004 and 2003. Although they had to sign 'consent' forms, the procedure, when posed as an incentive for a reduced sentence, generates an ongoing debate about whether or not consent actually exists in these situations. Proponents of the sterilization of incarcerated individuals often cite a lack of 'personal responsibility,' when in reality, many of these individuals face a lack of support and resources. Even if incarceration was somehow the singular determinant of one’s morals and character, sterilization as part of a prison sentence is still a fundamental violation of the right to #ReproductiveAutonomy — something judges and prison officials choose to ignore."

Read more:
https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2020/11/04/americas-forgotten-history-of-forced-sterilization/
#USPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #USHistory #WhiteNationalism #Genocide

I'm sure he isn't the only one... Just the only one to get caught!

Staffer for #Musk’s DOGE resigns over #racist social media posts that advocated for #eugenics

#MarkoElez was one of two top #DOGE staffers granted access to the #TreasuryDepartment’s payment system

by Andrew Feinberg, Friday 07 February 2025

"One of the two staffers for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency who was granted access to the U.S. Treasury’s sensitive payment system has quit his post after the White House was asked about his history of racist social media posts, including those supporting eugenics and repealing of the 1964 #CivilRightsAct.

"The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Marko Elez, a 25-year-old programmer who was brought into government service by the world’s wealthiest man had a profile on #ElonMusk’s social media site X featuring posts in which he said he supported a 'eugenic immigration policy,' and made other racist statements. Eugenics supports 'racial improvement' through 'selective breeding' to improve the human race.

"In one September post reviewed by The Journal, Elez reportedly wrote: 'You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity.'"

Read more:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-doge-staff-quit-b2693784.html
#USPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #USHistory #WhiteNationalism #Genocide #BadDOGE

Not just in the #UnitedStates...

Class-action authorized for #ForcedSterilization of multiple #Atikamekw women in #Quebec

February 24, 2025

"The Quebec Court of Appeal is authorizing a class-action for forced sterilization of multiple Atikamekw women in #JolietteQuebec. Previously, the class-action was just against three physicians, but now includes a regional health authority."

Watch:
https://www.aptnnews.ca/videos/class-action-authorized-for-forced-sterilization-of-multiple-atikamekw-women-in-quebec/
#CanadaPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #ReproductiveAutonomy #NativeAmericanWomen #Sterilization #Genocide

#ForcedSterilization is a worldwide problem!

As #Japan starts compensation payments, #ForcedSterilisation continues around the world

#NonConsensual #sterilisation of those considered genetically inferior persists in some parts of the world today

by Ewan Bolton, 18 February 2025

"Just last week, in the Miyagi prefecture of Japan, the local governor met victims of an official eugenics policy to apologise for the suffering they underwent.

"'On behalf of the prefecture, I would like to offer my heartfelt apologies for the immense suffering caused to the 900 (victims),' said Murai Yoshihiro while lowering his head.

"For many, the words 'forced sterilisation' bring to mind #NaziGermany and the devastating #eugenic policies pursued by #fascist regimes in the 1930s and 1940s. But the non-consensual sterilisation of those considered genetically inferior continued through the 20th century and persists in some parts of the world today.

"In January, victims of Japan’s forced sterilisation programme were finally able to apply for compensation for the first time. Between 1948 and 1996, at least 16,500 people were forcibly sterilised in Japan under the country’s #EugenicProtectionLaw. Nearly 60,000 more underwent #abortions without, or with only dubious consent. Most were mentally handicapped people or those with hereditary diseases.

"As Japan finally addresses this legacy, victims of forced sterilisation in #Peru are still fighting for compensation after 370,000 people were sterilised in what the UN has described as a potential crime against humanity. And in the #UnitedStates, #India, #China and parts of #Europe, non-consensual sterilisations continue to this day.

"As with the Nazis, almost all cases can be traced back to the discredited #PseudoScience of eugenics which was developed in the #UK at around the turn of the last century and had many supporters, including #WinstonChurchill.

"Japan’s Eugenic Protection Law was introduced in the wake of World War II. It granted medical institutions the right to administer sterilisations and abortions without the consent of patients. Of the 25,000 people sterilised under the programme, according to government figures only 8,000 gave consent. The legitimacy of the consent in these cases is disputed.

"A large number of the victims were children, some as young as nine years old. In Miyagi prefecture, in the northwest of the main island, more than half of the 859 sterilised between 1963 and 1981 were under the age of 18.

"At a press conference last month in Hyogo prefecture, a #DeafWoman, now in her 80s, described the emotional pain of being given an abortion without her consent. 'I was taken to the hospital, and I thought I would be going to the general medicine department. I was very surprised because I was taken to the gynaecology department … I am unable to forget what happened at that time'.

"In her prefecture alone, there are '14 or 15 other [#DeafPeople] who suffered harm' that are known about, 'but there are undoubtedly more', said Yoshimichi Hongo, chairman of the Hyogo Prefecture Association for the Deaf."

Read more:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/as-japan-starts-compensation-payments-forced-sterilisation/
#WorldPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #DisabledPeople #ReproductiveAutonomy #Sterilization #Genocide

Life 'cut short': #Peru's victims of #ForcedSterilization seek amends

Story by Agence France-Presse, 2/12/2025

LIMA — "Florentina Loayza was 19 and mother to an infant when she was sterilized by agents of the #PeruvianGovernment, against her will.

"Decades later, the 46-year-old #IndigenousWoman is still fighting for an apology and #reparations along with thousands of others robbed of their fertility in a 1990s state campaign condemned by the United Nations.
'My life was cut short,' Loayza told Agence France-Presse, recounting how her partner abandoned her over the procedure, which also left her with lasting pain.

"'On the outside, we look fine, but inside we are withering,' she said of the estimated 270,000 women who, like her, were coerced, pressured or deceived into surgery to have their fallopian tubes tied.

"Eighteen women died, according to official data, during the campaign that marked the final years of then-President #AlbertoFujimori's 1990-2000 rule.

"His government said it had offered sterilization as part of a family planning project, but the UN women's rights committee said in a report last October the state had carried out a 'systematic and generalized attack against rural and #Indigenous women.'

"It said the procedures were carried out without #InformedConsent from victims who were often poorly educated and did not understand Spanish, the language of officialdom in Peru.

"'It's not something that was done in the cities... but in a specific (rural) area as a way of fighting poverty so that the poorest women didn't reproduce,' Leticia Bonifaz, who was a member of the UN committee, told AFP.

"She said it was the biggest known case of forced sterilization in #LatinAmerica."

Read more:
https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/world/life-cut-short-perus-victims-of-forced-sterilization-seek-amends/ar-AA1yTNBf
#PeruPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #ReproductiveAutonomy #Sterilization #Genocide

So, on the opposite end, this #Michigan lawmaker chose #Sterilization, and is receiving #DeathThreats?!! This is truly insanity! Beyond #idiocracy!

Death threats follow Michigan Democratic lawmaker’s decision to have herself sterilized

Story by Andrew Roth, 2/11/2025

"Michigan state Rep. #LauriePohutsky (D-Livonia) said she’s received death threats after revealing during a rally last week that she underwent voluntary sterilization because she was concerned about the future of reproductive health care during President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

"Pohutsky’s comments during a #50501Movement rally in Lansing last week quickly spread across the internet, including among right wing media circles. The rally was part of a national movement that aimed to hold 50 protests in 50 states on one day.

"'I refuse to let my body be treated as currency by an administration that only sees value in my ability to procreate,' Pohutsky said during the rally, emphasizing that 'a sitting government official opted for voluntary sterilization because she was uncertain she would be able to access #contraception in the future.'

"Pohutsky’s social media profiles were quickly bombarded with hostile comments.

"In one voicemail left with her office, a caller says that “godless people” are going to be “eliminated” and warns Pohutsky that she is “on notice.”

"Some of the threats have been referred to law enforcement to investigate, Pohutsky said.

"Pohutsky said that U.S. Rep. #RashidaTlaib (D-Detroit) reached out to her after the speech gained traction online, noting that Tlaib is no stranger to viral moments or receiving threats.

"The speech also garnered the attention of conservatives on a national level, including Ben Shapiro, who said of Pohutsky, “So many broken people.”

"The fourth-term House member responded to Shapiro, saying “I think the broken people are the ones who are personally aggrieved by my personal health care decision.”

"Pohutsky said she and her husband decided last year that they were done having children and began exploring options for more permanent forms of birth control, citing her concern after Trump won the election about being able to continue to access the contraception she had been using."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/death-threats-follow-michigan-democratic-lawmaker-s-decision-to-have-herself-sterilized/ar-AA1yPmKK
#USPol #reproductiverights #Fascism #BodilyAutomony #ReproductiveAutonomy #Sterilization