Forced sterilization of disabled people isn't a relic of the past

31 states and Washington, DC , still have laws that allow for the practice.

Just two, Alaska and North Carolina , have laws banning the nonconsensual sterilization of disabled people.

Iowa and Nevada passed new forced sterilization laws that applied to people under guardianship.

Sterilization and Social Justice Lab co-director and founder Alexandra Minna Stern says the political climate is ripe for "another wave of sterilization abuse".

More than 40 states allow disability to be used as grounds for parental termination.

Advocates say opposing forced sterilization means reckoning with how disabled people are viewed as parents.

"We can think about how we as a society view whether disabled people should be pregnant," says Monika Mitra .