Maria Elena Figueroa, a voice in the fight against forced sterilization of Mexican American women in Los Angeles during the 1970s, died on April 28 in Compton. She was 78.
Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Bertha Elena Vázquez. Figueroa had been diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s, Vázquez said.
Figueroa, who lived in East L.A., was one of 10 Mexican American women who sued the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for involuntary or forced sterilization. This was at a time when unauthorized sterilizations among Mexican women with limited English proficiency rose at the county medical center, according to the Library of Congress.
In 1971, Figueroa gave birth to a daughter and said she had her fallopian tubes tied without her signing a consent form. In her deposition, she claimed that the consent form was signed by her husband the day after she had the baby.
The case, known as Madrigal v. Quilligan, brought national attention to coerced sterilization and reproductive rights.
The California federal court under Judge Jesse W. Curtis, however, ruled in favor of the county medical center, holding that the case was “essentially the result of a breakdown in communications between the patients and the doctors.”
Despite this loss, Figueroa and the other plaintiffs influenced the California Department of Health to implement new sterilization procedures, including bilingual informational materials that explained the process and consequences of sterilization, the Library of Congress noted. The state also revoked its sterilization law.
Experts say this case helped shape Chicana feminism in the 1970s.
“The case exposed the deep roots of systemic racism, language barriers, and medical abuse in public hospitals, especially toward Latina women,” California Latinas for Reproductive Justice said in a statement. [Figueroa’s] courage in denouncing forced sterilization helped shape the ongoing fight for bodily autonomy.”
Figueroa, a mother of three, was also one of the women featured in the 2015 documentary, “No Mas Bebes,” which illustrates the emotional toll sterilization took on mothers and their families.
Virginia Espino, a lecturer at UCLA whose research provided the basis of the documentary, provided court documents that shed light on Figueroa’s harrowing hospital experience and her attempted suicide after the sterilization.
To Espino, it’s important to remember Figueroa as a mother activist, “not just someone who experienced this abuse.”
“Someone who challenged systemic oppression, someone who stood up to, I would argue, white supremacy and is continuing to teach the new generations about this important history,” Espino said. “Her contribution in the film, her willingness to share her story, has educated generations about this important case, about this important and tragic history.”
Figueroa was born on August 17, 1946, in Tonala, Chiapas, in southern Mexico. She moved to Tijuana before immigrating to California. Figueroa settled in East L.A. and married Jose Figueroa.
Figueroa filled a range of jobs in her lifetime, from working as a nanny and housekeeper in Malibu and as a candy packer at See’s Candies. As a manager of mobile home parks – her last job before retirement – she would pick up bread from local grocers and deliver it to residents.
She was also an avid volunteer.
Figueroa would drive people to doctor appointments, cook for her church’s homeless ministry, and visit ill or dying patients.
“She had a loving nature about her, even though she went through all she went through. Her thing was to help people … She had so much love to give,” Vázquez said.
Vázquez said she didn’t know about her mother’s experience until the making of the film. “It wasn’t until the documentary came out that she was allowed to at least express and actually say what happened,” she said.
She recalls going on night drives with her mother and siblings. “The time she spent with us was great. If we had more siblings, I’m sure we would have had a fun time at the park or just together, but we were limited,” she said.
Figueroa’s legacy lives on through her grandchildren, who knew her as “Nana.”
Jessica Elaine Carpenter, 38, remembers learning to crochet with her, going on road trips and finding calm in her presence.
Carpenter is proud of Figueroa for what she stood for. “She was brave enough to do something about it … She would always go for what’s right,” she said.
Figueroa is survived by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, including Vázquez, her brother Jose Alfredo Figueroa and her youngest sister Elizabeth Ruiz.
Funeral services are open to the public and will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 24, at Artesia Cemetery, 11142 Artesia Blvd.
