New and horrifying allegations of forced hysterectomies at an ICE detention facility in Georgia must be investigated swiftly and thoroughly. This cannot be treated as just another outrage. This is the kind of demonization and abuse that must be exposed, repudiated and punished.
Yesterday, several legal advocacy groups filed a whistleblower complaint on behalf of a nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia. The nurse, Dawn Wooten, alleged a pattern of medical neglect, purposeful underreporting of COVID-19 cases, and the horrifying allegations of forced hysterectomies. According to the complaint:
“a detained immigrant told Project South that she talked to five different women detained at ICDC between October and December 2019 who had a hysterectomy done …
‘When I met all these women who had had surgeries, I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp. It was like they’re experimenting with our bodies,’ the detainee said.
…According to Wooten, ICDC consistently used a particular gynecologist – outside the facility – who almost always opted to remove all or part of the uterus of his female detainee patients.”
An interview with Wooten, published in The Intercept, notes that her account is “bolstered by interviews with another current member of Irwin’s medical staff – who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation – and four people currently or recently detained there”.
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
We cannot let these allegations be treated as just another outrage that fades from view. In America, in 2020, with our tax dollars, we have detailed and horrifying allegations of forced sterilizations and hysterectomies being performed on immigrant women in ICE detention.
The phrase ‘like an experimental concentration camp’ should shake us to our core. If we are the civilized nation we claim to be, we must find the truth and uproot this horrific manifestation of the relentless dehumanization and demonization of immigrants and refugees by this president, Stephen Miller and their lackeys at DHS.
These allegations need to be taken seriously and investigated fully – by Congress, DHS, and the medical community. This story needs to be aggressively pursued by the media. This must be treated with the seriousness it deserves until we expose the truth, punish those responsible and provide relief to victims.
