August 2017
From the 1920s to the 1950s, California sterilized approximately 20,000 people based on a eugenic law that authorized doctors to perform reproductive surgeries on patients deemed unfit.
In the paper Eugenics, sterilization, and historical memory in the United States, Alexandra Minna Stern and her team study medical records to investigate ethnic and gender bias in sterilization policies.
Their initial findings suggest that Spanish-surnamed patients were sterilized at higher rates than the general population.
See in the blog:
Eugenics and sterilization in the United States
In an interview to HCS-Manguinhos, Alexandra Stern, University of Michigan, talks about her initial findings related to ethnic and gender bias in sterilization policies.
See Latin Eugenics in a Transnational Context. Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos vol.23 supl.1 Rio de Janeiro Dec. 2016
