Many of his medical achievements came at the cost of the health and well-being of enslaved Black women. He performed surgical experiments on enslaved Black women, often without the use of anesthesia. Black women were experimented on to improve health care for white womenSocietal, institutional, and systemic racism has endangered the lives of Black women for centuries. In a 2023 CDC study , Black women reported experiences of mistreatment during maternity care at the highest rate of women surveyed. As enslaved Black women were considered to be the property pf their owners, and therefore did not have their own rights of refusal, Sims' experimented on Black women in order to improve gynecological outcomes for white women.

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Persons: Marion Sims, —, J, Sims, Spencer Platt, fistulas, Lucy, Black, Julia Axelrod, Henrietta, Fannie Lou Hamer, sterilizing, vesicovaginal fistulas Organizations: Gynecology, Service, Design, Parks Department, Park, 103rd, Getty, Equity Locations: New York, Central, Mississippi, CDC, Montgomery