Logo of the Second International Eugenics Congress

Before the onslaught of mass sterilization that plagued Puerto Rico in the late 20th century, the type of “thought” that inspired the attack on the reproductive rights of hispanic women can be traced to the early 20th century. In 1907, the United States passed its first eugenical sterlization law which later inspired a man named Harry Laughlin to spearhead a eugenics movement, which aimed to prevent the births of socially and economically inadequate groups in the United States.