1973 SPECIAL REPORT:

In 2013, thanks to the Center for Investigative Reporting, it came to light that dozens of female inmates in California had been illegally sterilized in recent years. The story was a salient reminder that forced sterilization, an issue that tends to be viewed as a tragic-but-past occurrence, continues today.

Sterilization abuse includes situations in which a woman does not know she is being sterilized as well as when she is coerced or deceived in order to obtain her consent to the procedure. Misinformation is a common tool; women are often told that their status — related to immigration, housing, government benefits, or parenting — will be negatively impacted if they do not consent to the procedure. Many women are told that the procedure is temporary or reversible.

Women in the United States and beyond have historically been subjected to coordinated efforts to control their fertility, including sterilization abuse. The burgeoning women’s movement in the 1960s, and growing concerns over limits to women’s reproductive rights at that time, helped focus concerns over sterilization abuse into action.