Joseph S. Belaval

Joseph "Jose" S. Belaval (1879–1953) was a Puerto Rican obstetrician, who was an influential advocate for birth control and sterilization programs for impoverished women in Puerto Rico.^[1] Belaval served on the Board of Health of Puerto Rico from 1917 to 1938, becoming the board president in 1920.^[2] In 1934, Belaval was appointed director of the first birth control clinic in Puerto Rico.^[3][4][5]

He was appointed to the Board of Health^[6] following his published writings advocating birth control in the early 1900s.^[7][8] Belaval's writings were considered controversial because they were aimed at limiting the poor population in Puerto Rico, and because Puerto Rico's predominantly Catholic population opposed any type of birth control.^[7][9][10]http://www.u.arizona.edu/~lbriggs/PuertoRico/forced.pdf

A not-for-profit community hospital in Santurce, Puerto Rico bears his name.^[11]

References

1. ^ Briggs, Laura (December 2002). Reproducing empire: race, sex, science, and U.S. imperialism in Puerto Rico. University of California Press. p. 154. ISBN 0520232585. 
2. ^ Report of the Governor of Porto Rico. 1922. p. 82. http://books.google.com/books?id=yF5BKEcYdkAC&pg=PA82&dq=jose+s.+belaval&cd=8#v=onepage&q=jose%20s.%20belaval&f=false. Retrieved 14 May 2010. 
3. ^ Williams, Doone and Greer Williams (1978). Every Child a Wanted Child: Clarence James Gamble M.D. and his work in the Birth Control Movement. Boston: Harvard University Press. p. 159. ISBN 9780674270251. 
4. ^ Salvo, Joseph F., Mary G. Powers, and Rosemary Santana Cooney (September/October 1992). "Contraceptive Use and Sterilization Among Puerto Rican Women". Family Planning Perspectives 24 (5): 219–223. 
5. ^ López, Iris Ofelia (2008). Matters of choice: Puerto Rican women's struggle for reproductive freedom. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press. pp. 13–17. ISBN 9780813543734. http://books.google.com/books?id=pGzdr4r1pMMC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=belaval+birth+control+puerto+rico&source=bl&ots=RxFkOgAZ6v&sig=a6rgmDCJyUMyJ5c_UByN60fpWk4&hl=en&ei=xHftS4OuEYL-8AbCl9j9Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB4Q6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=belaval%20birth%20control%20puerto%20rico&f=false. Retrieved 14 May 2010. 
6. ^ "State and Insular Health Authorities, 1919". Public Health Reports 34 (30): 1638. 25 July 1919. PMC 1996927. PMID 19314679. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1996927. Retrieved 14 May 2010. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Briggs, Laura (2002). Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520232587. 
8. ^ Ramírez de Arellano, Annette B. and Conrad Seipp (1983). Colonialism, Catholicism, and Contraception: A History of Birth Control in Puerto Rico. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807897577. 
9. ^ Stycos, J. Mayone and Reuben Hill (January 1953). "The Prospects of Birth Control in Puerto Rico". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 285: 137–144. 
10. ^ Tietze, Christopher (July 1947). "Human Fertility in Puerto Rico". The American Journal of Sociology 53 (1): 34–40. 
11. ^ "Centro De Salud Comunal Dr Jose S Belaval, Inc". AllBusiness. http://www.allbusiness.com/companyprofile/Centro_De_Salud_Comunal_Dr_Jose_S_Belaval_Inc/644D3D8A35D8E88575B6CD4131F075B3-1.html. Retrieved 14 May 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Belaval, Joseph S.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1879
Place of birth
Date of death	1953
Place of death