‘La Operación’: The Hidden History and Forced Sterilization of Puerto Rican Women

In 1937, the U.S. began one of the largest sterilization campaigns in modern history in its colony of Puerto Rico. By the 1970s, one-third of all Puerto Rican women of childbearing age had been sterilized, most without being properly informed that the procedure was permanent. 

The decades-long campaign has haunted Puerto Rican families for generations and remains one of the clearest examples of the United States’ ugly history of reproductive coercion. 

That history is the focus of “Declared Unfit to Reproduce – Eugenics,” the newest addition to episode 3 of BC Voices‘ docuseries Speak UP, Speak OUT, which explores how ever-changing reproductive policies have shaped the lives of women throughout the past half-century. 

Following the 1898 Spanish-American War, in which the U.S. gained control of Puerto Rico, the island’s economy crumbled. American-owned companies came to dominate the island. By 1930, the unemployment rate was 36 percent. Those who were fortunate enough to find a job were forced to work at American-owned factories and sugar plantations for little pay. This left the island with around 90...