The Belly of the Beast: The Campaign to End Forced Sterilization of Women Prisoners in California
A film by Erika Cohn
Reviewed by Pam Gates
At its January meeting, the local chapter of FREE – a movement of women whose lives have been affected by incarceration – showed a documentary that exposed a glaring overstep in state control of prisoners’ autonomy: forced sterilization. Women brought to the hospital for gynecological treatment might end up sterilized as well – without their knowledge or consent.
Kelli Dillon, the “star” of this 2020 documentary, spent 15 years in the Central California Women’s Facility, the world’s largest women’s prison, for shooting and killing her abusive husband during a fight. She had been trying to protect her two young sons and herself. According to the film, 92% of the women in prison are there due to domestic violence.
The other “star” of this documentary is Cynthia Chandler, co-founder of Justice Now, which provides legal advocacy for women in prison. Chandler had received a letter from Dillon stating that she hadn’t had her period for nine months, not since a hospital surgery for a cancer concern performed at the directive of the prison doctor. Chandler told Dillon to get her medical records, which they studied together when Chandler visited the prison. No cancer. But Dillon had been sterilized. And she wasn’t the only one. Many other women came forward as Justice Now investigated, stating that they’d been talked into a hysterectomy.
Justice Now found a law firm to take Dillon’s case pro bono. After a seven-day trial, the all-white jury dismissed Dillon’s claims; Dillon said that several lawyers were crying as they left the courtroom. She herself felt that “as a Black woman, my life wasn’t worth anything. It had no purpose.” She was released from prison not too long after, but found she couldn’t enjoy coming home. Her mind was on the trial, and on her sons, who’d grown into their teens while she’d been incarcerated. She’d seen them five times in those 15 years, “watching them grow up through a glass.”
A whistleblower sent Justice Now the minutes of a meeting at the state prison discussing the cost-effectiveness of sterilization during labor and delivery. According to federal law, it was illegal to sterilize without informed consent, but women were being asked to sign consent forms when they were “drugged up, just before surgery,” as one of them put it – or maybe they simply could not understand what they were being asked to sign.
Corey Johnson of the Center for Investigative Reporting came on board. Kimberly Jeffery told him that when she gave birth during her prison term, it was by c-section — for security purposes, she was told. Of 393 births during a given period, 222 were by c-section. Johnson found that doctors were being reimbursed for tubal ligations, but most of the time he confronted a culture of secrecy in the California prison system.
Dr. Heinrich, the prison doctor who saw Dillon, had a record of treatment resulting in permanently deforming kids or women. He was pushy about getting tubes tied. But it was a case of prison inmates’ allegations against people with PhDs. Said one person: “How do you know the crook is telling the truth?”
When Johnson asked Dr. Heinrich about making $100,000 on a banned procedure, Heinrich responded: “It’s cheaper than welfare.” That was part of the argument, and a share of the general public bought into it: Women in prison are not reproducing responsibly, so forced sterilization is a logical, reasonable consequence. Orange is the new sterile.
Justice Now, which has people currently in prison on its board of directors, launched a campaign for an anti-sterilization bill. The bill wasn’t moving forward, so Justice Now asked Dillon to testify on its behalf. She finally agreed, deciding that she had to accept what had happened – being sterilized at age 24 — and make peace with it. She’d wanted a second chance at life, at being a mom. She’d trusted the surgeon, and she felt robbed. She concluded her statement before the committee with this observation: “Is my testimony not accepted because I am African American? Or because I am a woman? Or because I was an inmate? … Or because of all three?”
After 1,400 forced sterilizations, SB1135 passed with bipartisan support. The prison system promptly began retaliating by blocking any reproductive treatment. A lawyer in the film called for a bigger national conversation on the topic; Dillon said that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) had to be made liable. In a further step, another bill, California’s AB1764, seeks material redress for the forced sterilizations. “There has to be a happy ending,” Dillon says.
Note: Dillon earned an associate’s degree in social work during the seven years this movie was being made. She now works with girls to address teen issues and sexual violence, so part of a “happy ending” has been launched. Dillon’s relationship with her younger son is strong, and her bond with her older son has been growing.