Thursday, September 17, 2020

What We Do To Women In The Shadows of Our Government

 The report hasn't been fully verified but there's enough to this story to make one sick. Via Nicole Narea at Vox

The allegations began with a nurse, Dawn Wooten, who filed a whistleblower complaint on Monday that cited concerns about a seemingly high number of hysterectomies performed on immigrants detained at the facility.

On Wednesday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the vice chair of the House immigration subcommittee, said in a statement that she had been briefed by three attorneys representing detainees at the facility. At minimum, she said, 17 or 18 people held at the Irwin County Detention Center had been subjected to unnecessary gynecological procedures — often “with the clear intention of sterilization” and without obtaining proper consent...

Many of the details of the allegations against the Georgia facility are still emerging, and both ICE and the private operator of the facility have called for skepticism of the complaint, which relies on secondhand accounts of the hysterectomies that were allegedly performed. Attorneys have since come forward with firsthand accounts of such procedures, but it is not clear to what extent ICE and the medical staff involved sought the detainees’ consent to perform those procedures or whether they were medically necessary...

According to Wooten’s complaint, the detainees, many of whom have limited English skills, were allegedly sent to a gynecologist outside the facility who performed the hysterectomies, often without them fully understanding why they were getting the procedure done. One woman was told it was because she had a “thick womb” or “heavy bleeding,” even though she had never experienced heavy bleeding or been told by a doctor previously that she had a thick womb, according to the complaint...

Hysterectomies can be commonly used to treat noncancerous growths in the uterus that contribute to heavy periods and painful sex, as well as endometriosis, pelvic support issues, abnormal uterine bleedings, chronic pelvic pain, and gynecologic cancers. But the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises that, depending on a patient’s condition and comfort level, they may “want to try other options first that do not involve surgery” or see if the condition improves on its own first, waiting to perform the hysterectomy until a woman no longer wants to bear children.

Detainees were also subject to other invasive gynecological procedures, including one woman who allegedly had Fallopian tube removal without her consent, which will likely make it harder for her to conceive in the future...

The report suggests that these surgeries were unnecessary. There were other ways to treat women - birth control pills for example help with treating ovarian cysts - but it looks like this private corporation - well removed from any public oversight - went too far.

It's known as "Forced Sterilization."

It's considered a human rights violation.

And given the open hostility that trump and his closest handlers like Stephen Miller are towards immigrants, and especially towards women, a lot of this looks intentional.

And this is just at ONE detention facility run by ICE and their corporate partners.

And this is just ONE MORE moment of a Republican agenda to make women suffer for the sake of a twisted patriarchy.

Ye Gods, trump and his anti-immigrant horde are desperate to hurt other people - above all, to hurt women - any chance they get.

1 comment:

dinthebeast said...

A reporter on Twitter yesterday said that the details emerging were more complicated than were generally being reported, but also noted that at least one witness to the crimes had been deported, and another was already on a plane bound for Honduras when attorneys got her un-deported at least long enough to testify.

-Doug in Sugar Pine