Just in case you were confused about whether or not we’re currently living in a dystopian future horror fest, the Center for Investigative Reporting has recently found that some doctors under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilized nearly 150 female inmates without required state approvals.
The Sacramento Bee reports that according to state documents and interviews, at least 148 women received tubal ligations in violation of prison rules from 2006 to 2010 — and the state paid doctors $147,460 to perform the procedure. What’s worse, there are perhaps many more dating back to the late 1990s.
Oh yeah, and they did this all without the required permissions:
Federal and state laws ban inmate sterilizations if federal funds are used, reflecting concerns that prisoners might feel pressured to comply. California used state funds instead, but since 1994 the procedure has required approval from top medical officials in Sacramento on a case-by-case basis.
Yet no tubal ligation requests have come before the health care committee responsible for approving such restricted surgeries, said Dr. Ricki Barnett, who tracks medical services and costs for the California Prison Health Care Receivership Corp.
Not only did the prisons not receive approval from the state, according to former inmates and prisoner advocates, the prison medical staff coerced the women, targeting pregnant women deemed “likely to return to prison in the future”.