Health Wanted Sterilization
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Jan 30, 2026 Natalie Lira, associate professor and co-director of the Sterilization and Social Justice Lab, studies sterilization abuse and eugenics history. She discusses the century-long legacy of forced and coerced sterilizations. The conversation covers how laws meant to protect can restrict access, modern coercion in carceral settings, and policy tensions between autonomy and safeguards.
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Multiple Oppressions Fueled Sterilization
- Racism, ableism, and classism combined to justify sterilizing marginalized groups by labeling them genetically 'defective.'
- Those labels ignored social causes of poverty and reproduced discriminatory policy.
Detention Settings Increase Abuse Risk
- Carceral and detention settings create conditions ripe for sterilization abuse because residents lack autonomy and legal protections.
- Prejudices plus procedural incentives can lead clinicians to act on bias in these settings.
Protect Consent With Access And Context
- Use waiting periods and genuine informed consent to reduce coercive sterilizations, but understand access barriers.
- Improve contraceptive access, education, and social supports to protect true reproductive autonomy.