ADDRESS FORCED STERILIZATION POLICY

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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
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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
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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
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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 SENATE 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
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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
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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.