New Mexico is taking on an investigation into the sterilization of Native American women through coercion, deception or by merely carrying out procedures entirely without consent. The state is mainly looking at time in the 1970s following the establishment of the federal Office of Population Affairs and a policy change that increased reimbursements for outside doctors contracting with Indian Health Service facilities for each procedure. Native Americans were included in groups targeted for sterilizations because of the false impression they were less intelligent and that they weren’t as productive members of society as other groups. In 10 years, Native American birth rates were more than halved. Other states and Canada have broached the topic of forced sterilization that tried to formalize racist policies in the name of public health. New Mexico is the first to take aim at the role IHS clinics played in carrying out the policies.
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