slave women and used them as guinea pigs for his untested surgical experiments.
He repeatedly performed genital surgery on Black women WITHOUT ANESTHESIA because, according to him, “Black women don’t feel pain.” Yet, despite his inhumane tests on Black women, Sims was named “the father of modern gynecology.”
According to the Journal of Medical Ethics, although anesthesia had already become available, Sims did not use any anesthetic during his procedures on Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy.
According to Sims, it was not yet fully accepted into surgical practice and he was unaware of the possibility of the use of diethyl ether.
However, ether as an anesthetic was available as early as the beginning of 1842. A common belief at the time was that Black people did not feel as much pain as white people, and thus did not require anesthesia when undergoing surgery.
But you might be saying to yourself, “that was in the past.” Well, the numbers are even more frightening now.
Data shows that 1 in 3 women will have their uterus removed before they turn 60. After several studies, the data also shows that many women who had a hysterctomy did not need it.
It is the second most common surgery in reproductive-aged women and, yet, there are so many that are performed unnecessarily.
Wayne State University and the University of Michigan conducted a study on over 3,400 women who had hysterectomies.
They found that 1 in 5 of these women had surgery for conditions such as endometriosis and fibroids. These are benign conditions that usually do not require a hysterectomy for treatment.
They also found that 2 out of 5 women who had hysterectomies before they turned 40 were unnecessary.
Wooten is represented by the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower protection organization, and Project South, a social justice advocacy group.
A coalition of human rights groups incorporated her declaration into a broader 27-page complaint filed with the DHS Office of Inspector General on Monday on behalf of Wooten and immigrants detained at the facility.