In ‘No Más Bebés,’ A ‘Perfect Storm’ Led To Unwanted Sterilizations For Many Latinas

*This airs tonight on PBS. It’s worth watching, or recording. It tells the story of women who were given tubal ligations without their authorization. Yes, this happened, in Los Angeles in the 1970’s. VL

By Shereen Marisol Meraji, Code Switch

About 40 years ago, when she was 24, Consuelo Hermosillo had an emergency caesarean section at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. In the new documentary No Más Bebés, she recalls asking her doctor what type of birth control she should use going forward.

No Más Bebés, which airs on PBS on February 1st, tells the story of how ten immigrant Mexican women, Hermosillo included, sued LA county doctors, the state, and the U.S. government in 1975 for allegedly violating their civil rights. The women’s cases were similar. Each had an emergency cesarean section and each said they were either unaware that they signed for a tubal ligation or told by a medical professional that not signing for one could mean death for them and their unborn child.

Click HERE to read the full story.