Why did the U.S. government sterilize thousands of Native American women in the 1970s? New Mexico is investigating | Fortune

"New Mexico legislators approved a measure this week to have the state Indian Affairs Department and the Commission on the Status of Women examine the history, scope and continuing impact of forced and coerced sterilizations of women of color by the Indian Health Service and other providers. The findings are expected to be reported to the governor by the end of 2027."

"It's not the first state to confront its past. In 2023, Vermont launched a truth and reconciliation commission to study forced sterilization of marginalized groups including Native Americans. In 2024, California began paying reparations to people who had been sterilized without their consent in state-run prisons and hospitals. The New Mexico Legislature also laid the groundwork to create a separate healing commission and for a formal acknowledgment of a little known piece of history that haunts Native families"

"Sarah Deer, a professor at the University of Kansas School of Law, said it's long overdue. "The women in these communities carry these stories," she said. Outside of a 1976 U.S. Government Accountability Office report, the federal government has never acknowledged what Deer calls a campaign of "systemic" sterilizations in Native American communities. The Indian Health Service and its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, did not respond to multiple emails requesting comment on New Mexico's investigation."

In the 1970s the Indian Health Service sterilized thousands of Native American women without full and informed consent, preventing many from starting or growing families. New Mexico authorized the state Indian Affairs Department and the Commission on the Status of Women to examine the history, scope and continuing impact of forced and coerced sterilizations of women of color, with findings due to the governor by the end of 2027. The state also advanced a healing commission and formal acknowledgment efforts. Other states have pursued truth commissions and reparations, while the federal government has not formally acknowledged systemic sterilizations.

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