In New Mexico, legislators have approved an investigation into the history and impact of forced and coerced sterilizations of Native American women that advocates say occurred through the federal Indian Health Service and other providers. The measure, which sponsors said is aimed at understanding harm done within the state’s borders, directs the state Indian Affairs Department and the Commission on the Status of Women to examine the “history, scope and continuing impact” of what lawmakers described as forced or coerced sterilizations of women of color. Findings are expected to be reported to the governor by the end of 2027.
State Sen. Linda Lopez, one of the sponsors, said, “It’s important for New Mexico to understand the atrocities that took place within the borders of our state.” The effort comes decades after the episode first drew formal scrutiny, and as survivors and advocates seek acknowledgment and a fuller accounting of what they describe as long-lasting consequences for Native families.
The AP reported that the investigation is also intended to address a gap in federal recognition. Sarah Deer, a professor at the University of Kansas School of Law, said the effort is “long overdue.” Deer said that outside of a 1976 U.S. Government Accountability Office report, the federal government has not acknowledged what she described as a campaign of “systemic” sterilizations in Native American communities.
Advocates point to accounts that describe medical decisions made under pressure and without full and informed consent. In one account, Jean Whitehorse, a Navajo Nation citizen, said she was admitted to an Indian Health Service hospital in Gallup in 1972 for a ruptured appendix, and that she later remembered being pushed through consent forms before emergency surgery. Whitehorse said, “The nurse held the pen in my hand. I just signed on the line,” and later learned she had received a tubal ligation, an outcome she said devastated her and contributed to the breakdown of her relationship and a spiral into alcoholism.
According to the AP, investigations and reporting in earlier years faced limits that advocates say prevented a complete picture. In 1974, Choctaw and Cherokee physician Connie Redbird Uri reviewed Indian Health Service records and alleged that the agency sterilized as many as 25% of female patients of childbearing age. The allegations helped prompt the Government Accountability Office audit, which found that the Indian Health Service sterilized 3,406 women in four of the agency’s 12 service areas between 1973 and 1976, including in Albuquerque. The report also found that some patients were under 21 and that most signed forms that did not comply with federal regulations intended to ensure informed consent.
The AP also reported that the Government Accountability Office researchers concluded that interviewing women who had undergone sterilizations “would not be productive,” citing a study of cardiac surgical patients in New York who struggled to recall past conversations with doctors. Advocates said that because of the lack of patient interviews and the narrow audit scope, the federal government’s understanding of the full scale and impact remains incomplete.
Supporters of the New Mexico probe say survivor testimony will be central, but they warned that the commission must handle disclosures carefully. Whitehorse said she did not share her experience for nearly 40 years, telling her daughter first and then other family members. She said, “Each time I tell my story, it relieves the shame, the guilt,” and added, “Now I think, why should I be ashamed? It’s the government that should be ashamed of what they did to us.” Rachael Lorenzo, executive director of Albuquerque-based Indigenous Women Rising, said survivors need support because it is “such a taboo topic,” and she said, “There’s a lot of support that needs to happen when we tell these traumatic stories.”
The measure approved by New Mexico lawmakers also aligns with a broader reckoning movement in the United States, including examples cited by advocates. In 2023, Vermont launched a truth and reconciliation commission to study forced sterilization of marginalized groups including Native Americans, and in 2024 California began paying reparations to people sterilized without consent in state-run prisons and hospitals.
During a recent New Mexico legislative hearing, retired Indian Health Service physician Dr. Donald Clark testified that he has seen patients in their 20s and 30s “seeking contraception but not trusting that they will not be irreversibly sterilized” because of stories passed down by grandmothers, mothers and aunts. Clark added, “It’s still an issue that is affecting women’s choice of birth control today.” Advocates and researchers also described the sterilizations as part of a wider pattern of policies aimed at disrupting Native reproductive autonomy, ranging from boarding school practices to other federal restrictions affecting health care.
Deer said New Mexico’s investigation could help pave the way for accountability, but she warned that without federal cooperation, the commission’s ability to determine what happened may be limited. The Indian Health Service and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment on New Mexico’s inquiry, according to the AP.
At the heart of the New Mexico measure is a dispute over what has and has not been fully documented—an accounting that, supporters say, has too often stopped with record reviews and audit constraints rather than patient interviews and long-term outcomes. For survivors such as Whitehorse, the prospect of a state-led process is also an opportunity to ensure their stories are heard, while a careful approach helps avoid re-traumatizing people who carry accounts across generations.