Editing Operation Bootstrap (section)

=== Coerced sterilization ===
Throughout the 1940s and to the 1960s, programs supported by the United States encouraged sterilization and birth control for the women on the island. These programs were birthed out of a perceived "overpopulation" problem on the island. Puerto Rican families averaged 5 to 6 people per family, and this was labeled as partly the reason for the unemployment and high poverty rates on the island.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Women in World History : MODULE 16|url=https://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/modules/lesson16/lesson16.php?s=0|access-date=2021-05-02|website=chnm.gmu.edu}}</ref> Luis Muñoz Marín was concerned that the perceived overpopulation problem could derail Operation Bootstrap, so his administration was in support. Across the island, the sterilization procedure was referred to as 'la operación." According to Antonia Darder, "By 1969, 35% of all Puerto Rican women of child-bearing age had undergone la operación."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Darder|first=Antonia|title=Colonized Wombs? Reproduction Rights and Puerto Rican Women {{!}}|url=http://publici.ucimc.org/2006/12/colonized-wombs-reproduction-rights-and-puerto-rican-women/|access-date=2021-05-02|language=en-US}}</ref>