Forced Sterilization of Native American Women

The Effect of Forced Sterilization of Native American Women in the 1970s

Presenter: Danielle Moreno

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Department: Native American Studies

Funding Source/Sponsor: SYRCE Symposium

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1TYuYjvqVQ2xaQix5xarTPGY8uo_KrUTP

Abstract:
My poster is focused on the mass sterilization of Native American women in the 1970s. Women of color were targeted for mass sterilization because they were seen as less than for their skin color. The Title X Planning program was passed in 1974 in order to provide reproductive health care. Although, women did not know that this meant they were going to be marginalized. The Indian Health service attempted to slow the Native American population by coercing Native American women into getting their tubes tied. The Indian Health service believed that Native American women were incapable of successfully using birth control. Native American women would go to hospitals for illnesses such as tuberculosis and come out with their tubes tied. Women were being sterilized as early as fifteen years of age. They were not fully informed the extent of getting one's tubes tied and believed it was something that could be reversed. Women were coerced into signing paperwork while still on the operating table or were misinformed of what they were signing. Mass sterilization of Native American women resulted in the decrease of the birth rate from 3.7 to 1.8. The amount of Native American women sterilized was between 25- 50% of women. The aftermath of mass sterilization had a major effect on women's mental health and home life.
 

References

Blakemore, Erin. “The Little-Known History of the Forced Sterilization of Native American Women.” Jstor Daily, 25 Aug. 2016, daily.jstor.org/the-little-known-history-of-the-forced-sterilization-of-native-american-women /. 

Felperin, Leslie. “Amá Review – Shocking Story of Native Americans' Mass Sterilisation.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 30 Nov. 2018, www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/30/ama-review-lorna-tucker-native-americans-mass-sterilisation.

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/centers/crrj/zotero/loadfile.php?entity_key=QFDB5MW3

https://www.pexels.com/search/reproductive%20rights%20are%20human%20rights%20sign/