The sordid history and inequalities of Women's Health in Black and Brown populations

Did you know that Black women are over 1.5 times more likely to die from cervical cancer than White women? And over 200% more likely to die from complications due to childbirth? Can you imagine being a Black or Brown woman and going to the hospital to get your appendix removed...and finding out that the government and your doctor sterilized you without your consent?

African-American patients tend to receive lower-quality health services, including for cancer, H.I.V., prenatal care and preventive care, vast research shows.

The dirty and sordid history of women's health in this country is terrifying and appalling. Dr. J Marion Sims, called the "Father of Modern Gynecology", was a pioneering physician and slave owner in the 1800's. During that time, Blacks were still thought to be little more than "animals", and ostensibly Black women didn't feel pain. He used enslaved Black women for countless experiments without their consent, during a time when Women's reproductive health was still a taboo subject.

In his autobiography, Sims describes negotiating with slave owners: "I made this proposition to the owners of the negroes: If you will give me Anarcha and Betsey for experiment, I agree to perform no experiment or operation on either of them to endanger their lives, and will not charge a cent for keeping them, but you must pay their taxes and clothe them." He also complains about the expense of feeding them.
In addition to Anarcha, Betsey and Lucy, Sims writes, "I got three or four more to experiment on, and there was never a time that I could not, at any day, have had a subject for operation. But my operations all failed ... this went on, not for one year, but for two and three, and even four years." "Free consent to participate in the experiments was not obtainable from women who were not free."
Black women were operated on without anesthesia, and once the techniques were perfected, they were then offered to his White patients with anesthesia.

In the 1930's the the North Carolina Eugenics Board was formed and 28% of the women sterilized were Black. However, by the 1950's, Whites were concerned about the "overpopulation" of Blacks and their access to welfare programs, and the number jumped to 65%.

Serena Williams had a serious health scare after giving birth, and Dr. Shalon Irving lost her life. It has been well documented that Black women are more likely to receive sub-par women's healthcare in this country, especially if they are on public assistance, as the stereotype of being a Poor Black woman who "pops out kids to get welfare" is so prevalent.

From 2006 to 2010, hundreds of women in California prisons were sterilized without their consent. In 2018, a Virginia Doctor was indicted on charges that he performed sterilization on multiple women, most of them minorities or poor, without their consent.

**Many of you will note that Henrietta Lacks is missing in this post.... it is because she deserves a post dedicated only to her**

https://www.history.com/…/the-father-of-modern-gynecology-p…

https://www.americanprogress.org/…/health-care-system-raci…/

https://www.nbcnews.com/…/u-s-finally-has-better-maternal-m…

https://www.cancerhealth.com/…/cervical-cancer-death-rates-…

https://www.npr.org/…/black-mothers-keep-dying-after-giving…

https://www.blackfeminisms.com/sterilization/

https://www.thoughtco.com/u-s-governments-role-sterilizing-…

https://www.pilotonline.com/…/vp-nw-chesapeake-doctor-new-c…

https://www.nytimes.com/…/race-and-medicine-the-harm-that-c…

https://thehill.com/…/347780-black-americans-dont-have-trus…

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