H. Res. 1153 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

October 2, 2020. 

Whereas there is a shameful history in the United States of 

Black, Indigenous, people of color, immigrants, poor people, and people with disabilities being subjected to medical procedures without their informed consent; 

Whereas 32 States passed eugenic-sterilization laws, resulting 

in the sterilization of between 60,000 to 70,000 people 

beginning in the early 1900s; 

Whereas 25 percent of Native American women of childbearing age were sterilized over the course of 6 years 

after the passage of the Family Planning Services and 

Population Research Act of 1970; 

Whereas incarcerated individuals have continued to face sterilization practices, including nearly 150 incarcerated 

women in California prisons sterilized between 2006 and 

2010; 

Whereas, on September 14, 2020, a coalition of organizations, including Project South, Georgia Detention Watch, 

Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, and South 

Georgia Immigrant Support Network, filed a complaint 

to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General expressing concerns about the Irwin 

County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia, including de-
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tained immigrant women receiving unnecessary 

hysterectomies and a lack of informed consent for gynecological procedures; 

Whereas a growing number of women are coming forward to 

share stories of unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures, including full or partial hysterectomies and other 

procedures involving their reproductive organs, performed 

without their knowledge or consent; 

Whereas, on September 16, 2020, U.S. Immigration and 

Customs Enforcement nearly deported a woman who was 

formerly detained at Irwin County Detention Center who 

had one fallopian tube removed without her knowledge or 

consent; 

Whereas, on September 18, 2020, 4 women came forward 

saying that they did not approve of the procedures they 

received; 

Whereas an initial review of available medical records by 

independent gynecologists raises serious questions about 

whether patients detained at the Irwin County Detention 

Center provided informed consent and whether prevailing 

standards of care were adhered to in their care; and 

Whereas these allegations indicate a failure by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct rigorous oversight to protect the health and safety of people in its custody: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) condemns performing unwanted, unnecessary 

medical procedures on individuals without their full, informed consent; 
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(2) recognizes that everyone deserves to control 

their own reproductive choices and make informed 

choices about their bodies; 

(3) recognizes that further accountability, oversight, 

and transparency is necessary to protect people in the 

custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; 

and 

(4) calls on the Department of Homeland Security 

to— 

(A) pause the removal of any individual who 

experienced any medical procedure at the Irwin 

County Detention Center; 

(B) allow individuals who may have experienced an unnecessary or nonconsensual procedure 

to have immediate access to adequate, safe, and 

consensual medical treatment or to seek a second 

opinion from an independent medical professional; 

(C) immediately comply with all investigations 

and records requests related to investigations about 

the Irwin County Detention Center; 

(D) ensure impacted individuals are able to 

freely participate in any investigation and share 

their stories without fear of reprisal; and 

(E) hold all individuals found to be involved in 

any unnecessary or nonconsensual medical proce-
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dure at the Irwin County Detention Center accountable and bring them to justice. 

Attest: 

Clerk.