Up to 250 female inmates sterilized in California prisons, documents say

Up to 250 female inmates sterilized in California prisons, documents say, A scathing new report from the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) alleges that at least 148 female inmates were sterilized at various California prison facilities over a 5-year period, from 2006 to 2010.

According to the report, which was posted July 7, that number could go as high as 250 as more documents are studied from as far back as 1997 regarding sterilization procedures allegedly undergone by what appear to be recidivist female inmates -- and without the state's knowledge or approval. What's more, some of those female inmates have come forward to say that they were coerced or weren't properly informed of the procedure when they were performed.

The report noted that as many as 250 tubal ligations, more colloquially known as having one's "tubes tied," were performed on women in California prisons from 1997 to 2010 that were never approved by the state, a requirement since 1994.

The Center reported that doctors were paid $147,460 over the 13-year period for the tubal ligations, according to a medical record database.

Dr. Ricki Barnett, who tracks medical services and costs for the California Prison Health Care Receivership Corp., said no requests for tubal ligation came to the attention of the committee that was charged with approving such procedures on a case-by-case basis. That agency has overseen all of the state's prisons (33) since 2006. Records indicate that the office was aware that the sterilizations were occurring.

Sterilization practices on the poor, minorities, and the mentally ill were commonplace up until California outlawed the procedures in 1979, according to the Sacramento Bee. In fact, California led the nation in sterilizations -- over 20,000 in a period ranging from 1909 to 1964 -- and historians note that the Germans sought California officials' expertise on the subject of eugenics -- a biological philosophy and social movement that looks to improve humanity by promoting reproduction among those deemed with superior genes and reducing reproduction among those deemed inferior -- in the 1930s.

The in-depth report also noted that Barnett, investigating a situation where at least two prisons were offering sterilizations services, met with officials from those facilities and told them they were to halt such procedures. What she discovered was that the facilities were operating as if there were no legal restrictions on sterilization procedures. In fact, doctors maintained they did not know they needed permission.

“Everybody was operating on the fact that this was a perfectly reasonable thing to do,” Barnett said.

Dr. James Heinrich, the former OB-GYN at Valley State Prison, is one doctor under fire for the tubal ligations. Christina Cordera, in prison for auto theft, now says she felt coerced by Heinrich to have the procedure.

“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,” said Cordero, now 34. “He made me feel like a bad mother if I didn’t do it.”

But eventually she did. She says she now wishes she hadn't.

But Heinrich told CIR that he performed a valuable service to the female inmates that were sterilized, noting that the tax money spent was minimal. "Over a 10-year period, that isn’t a huge amount of money,” he said, “compared to what you save in welfare paying for these unwanted children – as they procreated more.”

But Cordera isn't the only former inmate complaining. There are several women now coming forward to tell their stories of coercion and not being properly informed of procedures and their risks. The women seemed to have at least two things in common: Often they were recidivists and had several children.

Kimberly Jeffries said she not only refused a tubal ligation once but twice in 2009 and 2010 and has the signed documents to prove it. She said that the last time she was asked to undergo the procedure, she was sedated for a C-section.

Jeffries noted that it was the prison officials who were the "repeat offenders."

Jeffries now works speaking to groups about improving conditions for female prisoners in California and lobbies legislators in the state capital.

Dorothy Roberts, a University of Pennsylvania law professor and expert on sterilization, said that if such activities had occurred in a federal prison, they would be illegal. It is considered coercion if an individual is asked to do something while on the operating table due to pain and discomfort possibly interfering with an individual's judgment.

Says Heinrich of the allegations: “They all wanted it done. If they come a year or two later saying, ‘Somebody forced me to have this done,’ that’s a lie. That’s somebody looking for the state to give them a handout."

Barnett would not say whether or not Heinrich was ever questioned by the Receiver's Office, but she did say that she had simply tried to end the sterilization procedures.

And although Heinrich was thought to have left the California Department of Corrections' employ in 2011, CIR discovered he was actually still a contract physician listed with the state.

Up to 250 female inmates sterilized in California prisons, documents say 2013-07-08T10:43:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: My Videos Tube