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Compulsory sterilization
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Poster reading Stop forced sterilization and Alto a esterilizacion forzada, with black and white illustration of four people, including a child, raising fists. Mother and daughter
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Poster reading Stop forced sterilization and Alto a esterilizacion forzada, with black and white illustration of four people, including a child, raising fists.
A poster against the forced sterilization of women of color This poster advocating for the end of the practice of forced sterilization of women of color was created by Rachael Romero of the San Francisco Poster Brigade in 1977.

Compulsory sterilization

medical procedure
Also known as: coerced sterilization, forced sterilization, involuntary sterilization(Show More)
Written by
Frannie Comstock
Frannie Comstock is a writer based in Chicago.
Frannie Comstock
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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ā€¢History

Compulsory sterilization, practice of permanently removing an individualā€™s ability to reproduce without the personā€™s free, full, and informed consent. The practice is typically done to women through tubal ligation, hysterectomy, or endometrial ablation, but vasectomy has also been used as a method to sterilize men. The purported justifications for compulsory sterilization vary but are often rooted in eugenicsā€”that is, the selection of subjective, desired heritable characteristics in order to improve future generations. The practice was...

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