I'm somewhat gobsmacked that so many people don't seem to be aware of it. Then again, I do read a wee bit of history and...unfortunately some early feminist thinkers in the US were...well, let's just say they were not good on this issue (talking 19th/early 20th century).
The history of sterilization for various reasons (not even getting into the racial element! which is huge!) has a BIG eugenic component.
in all fairness to those progressive era feminists, eugenics as positive social policy was everywhere in the worlds of science, education, public health, books, consumer magazines (of which there thousands of titles in print) & agricultural communities. if you had any claim to “elite” or “thought
leader” status, you were pro eugenic policies. it was modern & perfectly suited to an educated population fascinated by the technological progress (flight! autos! widespread residential electrification!) & post ww1 societal changes. fwiw, many social policies we approve of (natural resource
anti prohibition stances, “socialized” medicine (this movement continued via public health clinics & regular medical screenings in public schools) through the 1970s.