The Relf Sisters
The Relf Sisters, Minnie Lee and Mary Alice Relf, are two African-American sisters who were involuntarily sterilized by tubal ligation by a federally funded family planning clinic in Montgomery, Alabama in 1973. A class-action lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center brought the wide-spread reality of U.S. government-funded sterilization abuse to the national spotlight.
Relf family background and context
Mary Alice and Minnie Lee are the youngest of six children born to Lonnie and Minnie Relf. The Relf family experienced poverty while living in Montgomery, Alabama. Lonnie Relf, having been injured in a car accident, was unable to work and neither he nor his wife, Minnie, were able to read or write. The family received support from the Montgomery, Alabama Community Action Committee which, in 1971, relocated the family to live in public housing.Background
Women of color were one of the biggest targets of coerced sterilization in the United States. In North Carolina, 65% of its sterilization operations were performed on African American women, although only 25% of its female population were black. Mary Alice and Minnie were not the only African American minors that were forcibly sterilized during the 1970s. The same family planning clinic the Relfs were serviced by sterilized a total of 11 female minors, 10 of whom were black. This investigation led to a further discovery of even more involuntary procedures of minors all across the United States. From a total of 3,260 government funded birth control clinics, another 80 minors were found to be victims of coerced sterilization. Majority of these girls came from poor families. Medical providers used this as an advantage. Since these families relied heavily on government assistance, medical personnel essentially did whatever they pleased with their patients. The Relf case helped expose thousands of sterilization procedures that did not involve consent, the majority of which involved African American women. One case involved Deborah Blackmon, an African American woman from North Carolina who was involuntarily sterilized at only 14 years old via a total abdominal hysterectomy in January 1972 due to the court judging her to be "severely mentally retarded". Due to her undergoing the procedure under county authority as opposed to state, Blackmon has yet to receive any justice or compensation for the procedure.Involuntary sterilization of mentally disabled
The practice of eugenics played a crucial role as for the reason why coerced sterilization was used. Eugenics is defined as preserving individuals who are considered 'genetically superior' from those who are inferior to them. Those who were deemed 'inferior' included people who were mentally disabled. A policy titled Law 116 stated that those who were 'feeble-minded' and 'diseased' could be permanently sterilized. Lawmakers believed that these individuals were inept in making decisions about their reproductive abilities. They also did not want the mentally ill to pass on their genetics to their offspring. The United States used this statement to justify their reason for the sterilizations previously performed and for future operations.Relf sterilization
The Relf sisters were vaulted into the national spotlight because of the compulsory sterilization that they endured in 1973.Mary and Minnie's older sister Katie Relf was not forcibly sterilized at the time her sisters underwent the procedure, but she was operated on before them. However in 1971, when the Montgomery Community Action moved the Relf family into public housing, the Family Planning Service of MCA “began the unsolicited administration of experimental birth control injections” on Katie. In March 1973, Katie, a minor, was taken to the Family Planning Clinic, where she had an intrauterine device, or IUD, insertion procedure. Neither of Katie’s parents were asked to give permission for Katie to receive this form of birth control, and Katie “submitted to the directions of the clinic staff that she accept implantation of the device."
Before Mary Alice and Minnie Lee were operated on, they were given Depo-Provera, a birth control shot.
In June 1973, two social workers from Montgomery Community visited the Relf residence with concerns that young boys were “hanging around” Minnie Lee and Mary Alice. Lonnie was not home. The MCA workers told Minnie that her daughters were going to receive some "shots." The three were transported to a hospital, where Mrs. Relf, who could neither read nor write, signed a consent form with a "X." She believed that Mary Alice and Minnie Lee were going to be given birth control shots, just like they've received before.
Lonnie returned home and went to visit his daughters at the clinic. When he arrived, the nurses advised him that visiting hours were over and he was not able to see Mary or Minnie. The girls were eventually sent home after the operation was complete. Mr. Relf noticed scar tissue formed on both of his youngest daughters' bodies. He asked his social worker to find out what had actually happened at the clinic. Once Lonnie and Minnie Relf came to the realization that their daughters were sterilized without their consent, they filed for a lawsuit with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Katie Relf would also represent with her sisters in the court case Relf v. Weinberger. The case resulted in prohibiting the use of federal funds for involuntary sterilizations. The defendants in the case, Casper Weinberger and Arnett were found to have "used federal funds and the powers devolved upon them to bring about the use of birth control measures, including sterilization, on the plaintiffs and the class they represent The defendants Casper Weinberger and Arnett as well as their predecessors in office were found to have acted to deny plaintiffs and their class status the right to procreate, which is a constitutionally protected right, by "failing to establish any guidelines for birth control programs conducted with federal funds, under federal auspices or by failing to distribute such guidelines once formulated."