Indigenous women kept from seeing their newborn babies until agreeing to sterilization, says lawyer
Canadian province of Saskatchewan: Sterilizations happened as recently as 2017, Saskatchewan lawsuit alleges
Canadian province of Saskatchewan: Sterilizations happened as recently as 2017, Saskatchewan lawsuit alleges
At least two women involved in the lawsuit were surgically sterilized after giving birth at the Royal University Hospital, which the Saskatoon Health Region oversees in Saskatoon. (Trevor Bothorel/CBC)
As a senator calls for a nationwide review of the forced sterilization of Indigenous women, a lawyer representing a proposed class action detailed the women's accounts of being sterilized without proper and informed consent.
"In the throes of labour ... they would be approached, harassed, coerced into signing these consent forms," said Alisa Lombard, an associate with Maurice Law, the first Indigenous-owned national law firm in Canada.
The women would be told that they could not leave until their tubes were tied, cut or cauterized, she added, or that "they could not see their baby until they agreed."
At least 60 Indigenous women are pursuing a class-action lawsuit launched last year, alleging they underwent forced sterilizations over the past 20 to 25 years in Saskatchewan. Each woman is claiming about $7 million in damages.
Source: cbc.ca
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