Anarcha Westcott (1828 - ???) was an enslaved African woman who was forced to undergo a series of painful surgical procedures at the hands of J. Marion Sims. He was attempting to devise a surgical method of treating vesicovaginal fistulas and rectovaginal fistulas. Very little is known about Anarcha but we do know that Sims performed 30 experimental surgeries on her before closing her fistula. She was given no anesthesia because the science of the day said that Black bodies did not feel pain. She did, however, receive opium after the surgical procedure and some writings suggest that she may have been addicted to the substance.
History went on to remember Sims as the “Father of Modern Gynecology” while Anarcha has been largely forgotten in the hallowed halls of the nation’s medical schools and other health professions training programs.
Remember Anarcha and the countless other Black women who endured the horrors that J Marion Sims inflicted on their bodies so that women today can have access to gynecological treatments.
#blackhistorymonth2020 #jmarionsims #medicalethics
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