Between 2006 and 2013, 144 female inmates were sterilized through bilateral tubal ligation, meaning they got their tubes tied. A recent California State Auditor’s report found that 39 of those surgeries were performed illegally.
Illegal means that the required process wasn’t followed: The required consent signatures were absent from forms, and waiting periods between consent and surgery were shorter than they should have been.
State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said the report was “quite shocking.” She said she knew that illegal sterilizations had occurred, but what the report revealed was worse than she thought.
Forced or coerced sterilization is illegal in the state of California, but an in-depth piece released by the Center for Investigative Reporting in July 2013 revealed that sterilizations carried out in some state prisons through 2010 raised red flags. In response to the reporting, the California Women’s Legislative Caucus, which Jackson vice-chairs, requested that an audit be performed on the issue.
The audit also revealed that illegally performed sterilizations pretty much stopped in 2011, after the department responsible for inmate health—the receiver’s office for California Correctional Health Care Services—found out sterilization procedures were being performed without following the proper legal processes.
“The receiver stopped paying for [the sterilizations] and that’s why they stopped doing them,” Jackson said. “That’s sad. The reason [the doctors] stopped doing them is because they weren’t going to get paid.”
She said 17 doctors were performing the surgeries without proper consent. She also said the report underscores the need for legislation she introduced at the beginning of the year, Senate Bill 1135, which would prohibit forced or coerced sterilizations in state prisons.
The bill would prohibit sterilization in correctional facilities for the purpose of birth control, except in cases in which a patient’s life is in danger or if it’s needed to treat a medical condition. The prisoner in question would also need to consult with an independent physician about the procedure and receive counseling about the permanency of the surgery.
The Senate Public Safety Committee voted on the bill on June 24, after the Sun’s deadline.
“This bill is going to prohibit any of these things from happening in the future,” Jackson said.
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 3, 2014.