As the abortion debate rages Texas, I thought I’d mention the forced
sterilization of California prisoners.
It has been uncovered by the Center for Investigative Reporting and
reported by Corey
G. Johnson, that doctors under contract with the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilized nearly 150 female inmates from 2006
to 2010 without state approvals.
So what happened? At least 148 women received tubal ligations in
violation of the prison rules during those five year. There may be more dating
back to the 1990s. From 1997 to 2010, the state paid $147,460 to doctors to
perform the procedure. The women were signed up for the surgery while they were
pregnant and housed in one of two prisons (California Institution for Women in
Corona and Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla). The former inmates and
prisoner advocates claim the prison medical staff coerced the women,
specifically targeting the women likely to return to prison in the future.
Christina Cordero claims she was pressured into sterilization by Dr.
James Heinrich, “As soon as he found out that I had five kids, he suggested
that I look into getting it done. The closer I got to my due date, the more he
talked about it. He made me feel like a bad mother if I didn’t do it.” She now
says, “Today, I wish I would have never had it done.”
This is of course scandalous, but pop quiz time, why? Because these
procedures are happening today or because they ever happened? There is a bit of
a history to this…
About half a century ago, forced sterilizations of prisoners, the
mentally ill, and the poor were commonplace in California (and other places).
These were banned in California in 1979.
However, Dr. Heinrich says he provided an important service to poor women
who face health risks in future pregnancies. Additionally, he says that the
$147,460 as a minimal total over a ten year period. Heinrich says, “Over a
10-year period, that isn’t a huge amount of money, compared to what you save in
welfare paying for these unwanted children—as they procreated more.”
So take a minute. Yes, he claims that this was ok because, these women
would have gone on welfare and their children cost more that way. Felons don’t
qualify got welfare in most states…now I don’t know for sure about California,
but probably not. So he is openly admitting to targeting criminals and
specifically poor women.
Daun Martin, a licensed psychologist, claimed that some pregnant women
would commit crimes to gain access to health care, “Do I criticize those women
for manipulating the system because they’re pregnant? Absolutely not, but I don’t
think it should happen. And I’d like to find ways to decrease that.”
Get that, women will cheat the system to gain access to health care, so we
better sterilize them. Martin denies that she approved these surgeries, but at
least 60 tubal ligations were performed at Valley State when Martin was in
charge according to the contracts database.
Both federal and state laws ban inmate sterilization if federal funds are
used. State funds can be used, but since 1994 the procedure requires approval
from top medical officials in Sacramento on a case-by-case basis. However, no
tubal ligation requests have come before the health care committee responsible
for approving these surgeries.
Those pushing and performing these tubal ligation claims it is for the
health of the women and these procedures had to be marked as emergency procedures.
Having multiple C-sections isn’t cause for tubal ligation. Former inmates tell different
stories alleging coercion. It has been illegal to pressure anyone to be
sterilized or asked for consent during labor or childbirth since the 1970s.
Kimberly Jeffrey, a former inmate, was pressured by a doctor while
sedated and strapped to a surgical table for a C-section in 2010 while in
Valley State. Her account, “He said, ‘So we’re going to be doing this tubal
ligation, right?’ I’m like, “Tubal ligation? What are you talking about? I don’t
want any procedure. I just want any procedure. I just want to have my baby.’ I
went into a straight panic.’”
Records show, Jeffrey rejected a tubal ligation offer during a December
2009 prenatal checkup at Heinrich’s office. After Jeffrey’s C-section a month
later a medical report notes she again refused a tubal ligation request after
arriving at Madera Community Hospital. No one explained to her any medical
justifications for a tubal ligation. Jeffrey’s says, [State prison officials] “are
the real repeat offenders. They repeatedly offended me by denying me my right
to dignity and humanity.”
So remember this when people are talking about choice.
Because this is choice being taken away as well. This is the other side. When
people are classified as undesirable or unimportant, their choices are taken
away. Historically, we’ve seen this with welfare recipients as well.
