It’s an unfortunate truth that many advances in modern medicine, including those related to women’s health, have come at the expense of marginalized people. Nazi doctors may be the most infamous for their cruel experiments on prisoners, but a peek into American medical history reveals plenty of skeletons closer to home. In the 19th century, Dr. J. Marion Sims, the so-called father of gynecology, developed new surgical techniques by experimenting on enslaved women. A century later, the scientists who invented the first hormonal oral contraceptive, also known as the birth control pill, conducted covert trials on Puerto Rican women, who were not informed of the new medication’s potential risks.

“Las Borinqueñas,” a 2024 play by Nelson Diaz-Marcano, centers on a small circle of friends affect

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