La Operación

La Operación. Oil on plexiglass & wood. 20"x 78." November 2008

After World War I, U.S. institutions launched programs to “control” Puerto Rico’s population. Many doctors, influenced by eugenics, promoted sterilization as the main form of birth control. They claimed other methods were “too complicated” for working-class and rural Puerto Rican women.

Dr. Cornelius Rhoads, a U.S. physician and official, led much of this campaign. He strongly supported eugenics and openly expressed racist views about Puerto Ricans. In a private letter from 1931, he called Puerto Ricans a “degenerate race” and said the island “needed to be exterminated.”

Even after the letter became public and caused outrage, Rhoads did not face real consequences. He later held top positions in U.S. medical institutions and helped shape U.S. public health policy. His influence made eugenics part of Puerto Rico’s healthcare system.

In 1937, Puerto Rico enacted Law 116, legalizing sterilization. There was a coordinated effort to pressure, mislead, or deceive women into permanent procedures. Many did not give informed consent and were told the operation could be reversed.

By 1965, over one-third of Puerto Rican women of childbearing age had been sterilized, the highest sterilization rate in the world. Many procedures happened right after childbirth, when women were vulnerable and unable to fully consent. In some cases, sterilization became a condition of employment, and women were told they would lose job opportunities if they refused.

These stories are not just historical footnotes. They are living histories we carry in our bodies, families, and communities. “La Operación” is my visual response to this reality. I hope it encourages people to look more closely at how policies rooted in white supremacy and colonial power still shape reproductive injustice today.

Source: “La Operación” by Ana María García; Latin American Film Project, Skylight Pictures. 1982.