CMPA emphasized commitment to meaningful action toward reconciliation with Indigenous peoples
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has welcomed the passage in Parliament of Bill S-228, an Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures), which clarifies that such procedures wound or maim a person under s. 268(1) of the Code.
Dr. Bolu Ogunyemi, CMA president, emphasized the association’s support for the bill and the association’s commitment to meaningful action toward reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
“The CMA is walking a path toward reconciliation following our apology to Indigenous Peoples, which explicitly acknowledged harms caused by the medical profession, including forced and coerced sterilization,” Ogunyemi said in a press release. “That apology marked a renewed beginning focused on driving tangible improvements to the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples.”
Ogunyemi explained that the CMA values informed consent, which enables patients to make their own decisions regarding their care without pressure or coercion.
“We stand with survivors of forced and coerced sterilizations and are committed to continuing our work in partnership with Indigenous People to put our reconciliation commitments into practice,” Ogunyemi said.
Ogunyemi expressed gratitude to the members of Parliament and the Senate, including Senator Yvonne Boyer, who sponsored the bill. Ogunyemi also thanked the experts and community leaders who gave evidence during the legislative process.
“We commend the leadership and advocacy of the Survivor’s Circle for Reproductive Justice, whose work has been instrumental in advancing this legislation,” Ogunyemi said in the CMA’s press release.
Bill S-228
The bill’s preamble characterizes the sterilization of individuals without consent as “a legacy of systemic discrimination, colonization and racism that disproportionally, but not exclusively, affects Indigenous and racialized persons.”
“Let me be clear: Forced sterilization is not a relic of the past,” Boyer said in a sponsor’s speech last year when moving for the bill’s second reading. “It is happening in Canada today.”
Section 268(1) of the Criminal Code, 1985, covers aggravated assault.
An amendment added after s. 268(1) will define sterilization as wholly or partly severing, clipping, tying, or cauterizing a person’s Fallopian tubes, ovaries, or uterus. Sterilization will also include procedures leading to the permanent prevention of reproduction, even if reversible via a later surgical procedure.
“Across Canada, ongoing class action lawsuits continue to shed light on the scale and persistence of forced and coerced sterilization,” Boyer said in last year’s speech. “These class actions represent hundreds of Indigenous women who were sterilized without consent.”
As of the time of writing, the bill is currently awaiting royal assent.
