To start, sterilization is one of the many different options of birth control with sterilization being a permanent form. This procedure is done by sealing the woman’s tubes shut, not allowing sperm to get in contact with her eggs. Once this procedure is complete, the woman can no longer get pregnant so the woman must be certain of not wanting to get pregnant throughout her life before she makes this decision. However, there has been numerous instances where women have been sterilized without their consent or knowledge throughout history as they are unable to reproduce for any longer. Their reproductive rights are taken away from manipulators who have a higher status in society and these women have been taken advantage of.
First, there was an epidemic of indigenous women being victims of losing their reproductive rights from their doctors during the 1970s. In the reading “”Better Dead Than Pregnant” – The Colonization of Women’s Reproductive Health,” author Andrea Smith goes into detail of this terrifying period. Doctors would pressure indigenous patients to get sterilized without these patients having proper knowledge of what procedure they are undergoing. Mothers who already had a couple of kids were sterilized along with women who had just gave birth the previous day. As evidence of this, Smith provides the following, “For example, Uri discovered that many of the women sterilized in Claremore were sterilized within a day or two after having given birth, which means physicians may have violated federal regulations requiring a 72-hour waiting period between consenting to the operation and having it performed” (Smith 83). Dr. Connie Uri’s data reveals that these women hardly had any time to decide if they wanted to go under this procedure as they were rushed into doing it. There was a lot of pressure in this abbreviated time as doctors would use scare tactics to get their patients to agree with being sterilized. This was a harmful form of sterilization abuse as patients would give into the pressure doctors placed them under, impulsively agreeing to get sterilized in short notice.
In addition, sterilization was pushed as the solution towards patients for unrelated cases during the 70s. Patients would schedule appointments for non-sexual issues such as having stomach pain or illnesses, yet doctors would recommend sterilization as treatment. Prescribing sterilization for unrelated cases is highly unprofessional and could lead to serious issues. For example, Smith states “Another women went to a doctor for stomach problems. The doctor assumed she was ill because she was pregnant and yelled, “why the hell don’t you get your tubes tied so you won’t get sick anymore?”” (Smith 83-84). This quote highlights that doctors would recommend sterilization as treatment despite it being irrelevant with this example’s case having it suggested in a threatening way. Having this doctor yelling at the patient to get sterilized can make her feel pressured to agree.
To conclude, sterilization has a problematic history which has led to many problems such as sterilization abuse being common towards women of minorities during the 70s. Sterilization was also irresponsibly used for unrelated cases that did not require it as treatment. This procedure has been done without women’s consent, leaving them unable to reproduce for the rest of their lives. This unfortunate past of sterilization has taught us that it is important to stay informed about medical procedures before agreeing to have it performed and to not give in to peer pressure.
Work Cited
Smith, Andrea. “Chapter 4 “Better Dead than Pregnant”: The Colonization of Native Women’s Reproductive Health.” Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide, 2005, pp. 79-108. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822374817-007
