Critics want New York City to remove a statue in Central Park that honors a doctor who used slaves in developing a pioneering approach to treating physical problems women can develop after childbirth.
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is among those calling for the removal of the statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims.
Sims was a 19th century physician who used slave women to develop his surgical technique to repair fistulas and operated on these women without anesthesia.
The removal of Confederate statues sparked a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, this month. An anti-racist demonstrator was killed when a car drove into a crowd protesting the rally.
Following that violence, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said officials would review "symbols of hate" on city property.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
