Eugenic Sterilization Programs Disproportionately Target Black Women

Following Buck v. Bell (1927), in which the Supreme Court upheld compulsory sterilization 8–1, 32 states operated eugenic sterilization programs. Black women were disproportionately targeted, particularly in the South where sterilization of welfare recipients was used as a condition for continued benefits. North Carolina's Eugenics Board, which operated until 1977, sterilized an estimated 65% Black victims despite Black people comprising only 25% of the state population. In Mississippi and Alabama, surgical sterilization of Black women was so common it was called a 'Mississippi appendectomy' by medical students.