ADDRESS FORCED STERILIZATION POLICY

HM032

HOUSE MEMORIAL 32

57
th legislature
- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -
second session
, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Patricia Roybal Caballero and Linda M. López

and Shannon D. Pinto and Charlotte Little

and Michelle Paulene Abeyta

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE INDIAN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT AND THE COMMISSION ON
THE STATUS OF WOMEN TO STUDY AND DEVELOP A STATEWIDE PLAN OF
ACTION TO ADDRESS THE FORMER GOVERNMENT POLICY OF FORCED OR
COERCED STERILIZATION OF INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND OTHER WOMEN OF
COLOR IN NEW MEXICO AND TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR A STATE TRUTH
AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION, A MEMORIAL TO VICTIMS OF FORCED
OR COERCED STERILIZATION AND STATE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE
INHUMANITY OF THE GRIEVOUS POLICY.

WHEREAS, between 1907 and 2018, Indigenous women and other
women of color across the United States, including in New
Mexico, were subjected to forced or coerced sterilizations
without their free, prior and informed consent, often through
the federal bureau of Indian affairs and its contracted health
care or the bureau's successor, the Indian health service and
its direct services and purchased-referred care, which includes
physicians and other health care providers, private practices,
clinics and institutions; and

WHEREAS, investigations in the 1970s revealed that between
twenty-five and fifty percent of Indigenous women of
childbearing age had been sterilized, with some of the highest
concentrations of procedures occurring in the Indian health
service regions of Albuquerque and the broader southwest; and

WHEREAS, federal and independent inquiries, including
those conducted by the United States government accountability
office in 1976 and Indigenous researchers, such as Dr. Connie
Pinkerman-Uri (Choctaw/Cherokee), have documented widespread
violations of medical ethics and human rights, including
sterilizations performed on girls and women under duress or
without being given full information about the sterilization
procedure and its consequences, or even without any permission
being sought; and

WHEREAS, these acts constitute grave violations of
fundamental human rights, including the rights to health,
bodily autonomy, family and freedom from torture or cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment, as recognized under the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and the
Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

adopted by the United Nations general assembly and the
Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court
, which classifies
forced sterilization as a crime against humanity; and

WHEREAS, the reproductive violence perpetrated against
Indigenous women through forced or coerced sterilization has
caused historical and generational trauma, demographic loss and
cultural devastation, harms that many legal scholars and human
rights experts argue rise to the level of genocide; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico, as a state with a majority-minority
population and a deep legacy of Indigenous leadership, bears a
moral and historical responsibility to confront this
unacknowledged chapter of United States and state history; and

WHEREAS, transitional justice frameworks, including truth
commissions established in Canada, South Africa and the state
of Maine, demonstrate that processes of truth-telling,
reparative justice and institutional reform can support healing
communities and restore public trust in government; and

WHEREAS, the establishment of a New Mexico memorial to the
victims of forced or coerced sterilization and the creation of
a truth and reconciliation commission would make New Mexico the
first state in the nation to formally investigate, acknowledge
and redress the full scope of these violations; and

WHEREAS, Indigenous women leaders, advocates and
survivors, alongside scholars and health practitioners, are
organizing to develop a Native American-led framework for
culturally grounded reproductive justice and trauma-informed
care to ensure such violations never occur again; and

WHEREAS, in 2025, during the United Nations permanent
forum on the rights of Indigenous peoples, the American Indian
movement-west delegation met with Dr. Albert K. Barume, the
United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous
peoples, to raise the issue of forced sterilization of Native
American women and to call for a United Nations global study on
the scale and scope of these crimes; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Barume has since agreed to undertake a visit
to the United States, including a commitment to visit New
Mexico, to meet with communities and survivors, engage with
state and tribal officials and hold an international press
conference on this issue, thereby positioning New Mexico as a
focal point for global truth and healing;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the Indian
affairs department and the commission on the status of women be
requested to conduct a comprehensive study into the history,
scope and continuing impacts of forced and coerced
sterilization of Indigenous women and other women of color in
New Mexico; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study:

A. identify all known and potential cases of forced
or coerced sterilization conducted within New Mexico through
United States Indian health service facilities and contracted
physicians and other hospitals and clinics;

B. gather survivor testimony using trauma-informed
and culturally safe protocols, in partnership with Indigenous-focused and Indigenous-community-led organizations;

C. assess the availability and accessibility of
reproductive health services for Indigenous women and other
women of color in New Mexico today; and

D. review and recommend educational, policy and
reparative measures to prevent future violations and promote
community healing; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department and the
commission be requested to seek the advice and assistance of
victims and family members of victims of forced or coerced
sterilization, historians, social and health services
practitioners and others knowledgeable about the treatment by
government employees and agents against Indigenous women and
other women of color and trauma-informed and culturally
sensitive protocols to be used when discussing such treatment
with victims and their families; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that upon completion of the study,
the department and commission be requested to present their
findings and recommendations to the governor and the
legislature no later than December 31, 2027, including
proposals for:

A. the establishment of a New Mexico truth and
reconciliation commission on the forced or coerced
sterilization of Indigenous women and other women of color;

B. the creation of a statewide Native American-led
reproductive justice and reproductive sovereignty program
focused on culturally grounded health, education and healing
services;

C. the development of a public memorial and
educational curriculum to ensure enduring remembrance and
education of this history; and

D. the acknowledgment by the state of the
inhumanity of the grievous policy of forced or coerced
sterilization of Indigenous women and other women of color; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the secretary of Indian affairs, the chair of
the commission on the status of women, the governor, tribal
governments in New Mexico, the interim legislative health and
human services committee and the interim legislative committee
dealing with Indian affairs.

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