Tubal ligations of Indigenous women in Saskatoon 'troubling': Bennett

By Kristy Kirkup, The Canadian Press:

Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, Carolyn Bennett speaks as AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde looks on at the Assembly of First Nations annual general meeting in Regina, Sask., Tuesday July 25, 2017. Bennett says she's troubled by reports of Indigenous women in and around Saskatoon being coerced into tubal ligation procedures. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor

OTTAWA — Reports that women in and around Saskatoon were being coerced into tubal ligation procedures are evidence of racism in a health-care system that remains biased against Aboriginal women, Canada's Indigenous affairs minister says.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Carolyn Bennett called last week's report "completely troubling" and a sign that some doctors are still willing to project onto certain patients what they consider an "optimal family size."

"It is a very paternalistic approach," Bennett said. "I think that we yet again are confronted with the racism in all of our institutions."

The report was researched and compiled by Yvonne Boyer, a lawyer and a Canada Research Chair at Manitoba's Brandon University, and Dr. Judith Bartlett, a physician and researcher.

They documented how some Indigenous women from Saskatoon and the surrounding area were coerced into having their Fallopian tubes clamped or severed after giving birth in hospital.

Most of the women who were interviewed for the report either did not recall consenting to the procedure, or did so because they were exhausted and too overwhelmed to fight any longer, the researchers found...http://www.thestarphoenix.com/health/tubal+ligations+troubling+bennett/14049443/story.html