Title: Condemning unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals without their full, informed consent.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This resolution condemns the performance of unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals without their informed consent and recognizes the need for additional accountability, oversight, and transparency to protect individuals from such medical procedures while they are in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It also calls on the Department of Homeland Security to fully cooperate with investigations about, and take other actions related to, medical procedures in one of its detention centers.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1153 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1153

  Condemning unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals 
                 without their full, informed consent.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 25, 2020

Ms. Jayapal (for herself, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Ms. Jackson Lee, 
Ms. Garcia of Texas, Ms. Frankel, Ms. Adams, Mr. Aguilar, Ms. Barragan, 
     Ms. Bass, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. 
 Blumenauer, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Brown of Maryland, 
 Ms. Brownley of California, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Carson of 
   Indiana, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. 
   Cisneros, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. 
  Connolly, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Correa, Mr. Crist, Mr. Crow, Mr. Danny K. 
  Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean, Ms. DeGette, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, 
 Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Escobar, Ms. 
Eshoo, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Foster, Ms. Fudge, 
Mr. Gallego, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Gonzalez of Texas, 
   Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Haaland, Mr. Hastings, Mrs. 
 Hayes, Mr. Heck, Mr. Higgins of New York, Ms. Houlahan, Mr. Huffman, 
Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kaptur, 
   Mr. Keating, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Khanna, Mr. 
Kilmer, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. 
 Lee of California, Mr. Levin of Michigan, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lowenthal, 
 Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Malinowski, Ms. Matsui, Ms. McCollum, Mr. 
 McEachin, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore, Ms. Mucarsel-
   Powell, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Neguse, Ms. Norton, Ms. 
 Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Omar, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Pascrell, Ms. Pingree, Mr. 
Pocan, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Rose 
 of New York, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Rush, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. 
  Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Schrier, Mr. Sherman, Ms. 
 Sherrill, Mr. Sires, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Soto, Ms. Stevens, 
  Ms. Speier, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson of California, Ms. 
 Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Torres of California, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Vargas, 
 Mr. Vela, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Watson Coleman, 
Mr. Welch, Ms. Wild, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Larson of 
 Connecticut, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Ted 
   Lieu of California, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Trone, Mrs. Davis of 
 California, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Doggett, Mrs. McBath, Mr. 
Cox of California, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Engel, Mr. 
 DeSaulnier, Mr. Kildee, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Cohen, 
  Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Morelle, Ms. Shalala, Mr. Levin of 
     California, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of 
Pennsylvania, Ms. Waters, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mr. Deutch, Mrs. Axne, 
 Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Peters, Mr. Kim, Mrs. Luria, Mr. Pappas, and Ms. 
Slotkin) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy 
    and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals 
                 without their full, informed consent.

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 detained 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;
            (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 involved in these 
                incidents accountable and bring them to justice.
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