Anarcha
2025
Anarcha Westcott was an enslaved teenager in 1840s Alabama who became pregnant and experienced severe complications during childbirth.
Over the course of several years, she was subjected to at least 30 experimental gynecological surgeries without anesthesia by Dr. J. Marion Sims, later referred to as the “father of modern gynecology.” These procedures were based on the belief that Black people felt less pain, a notion that shaped medical thinking for generations. The operations were performed without consent and resulted in significant physical and emotional harm.
Sims conducted his experiments on several enslaved women, including the few whose names remain known: Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy. While his name became embedded in medical history, the women he operated on remained unnamed and unacknowledged for generations.
This legacy continues to shape medical care today: Black patients in the US, particularly women, still receive less adequate pain treatment and face significantly higher maternal mortality, regardless of income or education.