Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Were a third of the women in Puerto Rico sterilized under US territorial rule in the mid-20th century?
Sunday, September 20, 2020
By Esther Tsvayg
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YES
In 1937, Puerto Rico made sterilization free and legal for women, passing a eugenicist law advocated by activists from the mainland as a corrective to poverty and overpopulation. Doctors coerced or tricked poor women into getting "la operación" (a hysterectomy) after their second child's birth. In 1976, according to what was then the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, more than 37% of women of child-bearing age in Puerto Rico had been sterilized.
During these decades, Puerto Rican women were also subject to medical experimentation (without their informed consent) as test subjects for the birth-control pill.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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