BC gov't accused of forced sterilization and abortion of Indigenous women in new lawsuit

A proposed class-action lawsuit with horrific claims of forced sterilization and sexual assault was filed against the British Columbia government on February 22.

Earlier this week I spoke in the Senate about my bill, S-250, which will criminalize forced & coerced sterilization - an issue that disproportionally impacts Indigenous and black women & girls, and many more.

This is just the first step. I will not stop until the work is done. pic.twitter.com/L9ONoc8nJA

— Senator Yvonne Boyer (@SenatorBoyer) February 10, 2023

A statement of claim filed on behalf of the suit’s two Indigenous plaintiffs, Lorraine Davis and Stephanie Roy, alleges that the women were either coerced or forced to undergo a medical procedure that resulted in them being unable to have the number of children they desired. 

Lorraine Davis, who resides in Campbell River and is a member of the Penticton Indian Band, claims that in 1983, at age 21, she was handed unsolicited documents to approve a female sterilization procedure called tubal ligation (commonly referred to as having one’s tubes tied) moments before she was scheduled to birth her second child via cesarean.

According to the claim filed by lawyer Angela Bespflug, “there was no valid medical reason for the procedure.” While Davis did sign the documents, she did so without understanding what a tubal ligation was and without Campbell River Hospital staff explaining its purpose to her.

Forced sterilization is not a thing of the past.

— APTN News (@APTNNews) February 17, 2023

Davis further claims to have suffered from post-partum depression due to the coerced surgery and later feelings of trauma and anger when she and her husband were unable to have a third child because of it.

Roy, a member of the Wet’suwet’en Nation who resides in Chilliwack, alleges that in 1998 or 1999, after being pressured to have an abortion, the then-teenager told medical staff she did not want to go through with terminating her baby just before the abortion began.

Instead of halting the abortion plans, the claim states that Roy was told that because she had already signed the abortion papers it was too late to stop. She allegedly was then pinned down by staff, had a mask placed over her face that made her unconscious, and “when she woke up, the baby was gone.”

My baby was ripped from my womb at 16 weeks by a heartless abortionist who profited from rape & coerced abortion. An adult doctor who could have reported what happened to me to the police but instead subjected me to more trauma & threatened me if I ever spoke. I was 14. Shameful!

— Sarah-Jayne Pomeroy PGCert MA. (@SarahJaynePom) February 19, 2023

The suit further alleges that the province “was complicit in creating an atmosphere of institutional and systemic racism in provincially funded and regulated hospitals throughout British Columbia.”

The court documents also refer to coerced sterilization as “a form of sexual assault.” While the act of sterilizing someone by force or without informed consent could technically qualify as such, lawyer Alisa Lombard, who is representing Saskatchewan women that claim to be victims of sterilization, says she is also working on Bill S-250 in hopes of amending the Criminal Code to allow the practice of coerced sterilization to be punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

To help support the independent journalism that Rebel News brings the public, please click here www.RebelNews.com/donate to make a donation.