In the United States, much of the history of forced sterilization is connected to the legacy of eugenics and racism in the United States. Many doctors thought that they were doing the country a service by sterilizing poor, disabled, and/or minority women, whom they considered a drain on the system. Native American, Mexican American, African American and Puerto Rican-American women were coerced into sterilization programs, with Native Americans and African Americans especially being targeted. Records have shown that Native American girls as young as eleven years-old had hysterectomy operations performed.