Professor Guerrero Comments on Ban on Forced Sterilizations for Female Inmates

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- The new law will protect women in county jails, state prisons and other detention centers by requiring that inmates first receive extensive counseling from independent physicians in life-threatening situations before they comply to having tubal ligations and hysterectomies, which have been against the law since 1979. “There is a lot of wrongdoing towards women behind bars,” Women and Gender Studies Professor MA Jaimes Guerrero said. “There’s a lot of manipulation and exploitation.” Guerrero argued that sterilizing women without consent denies them of a basic human right.