09/22/20 09/22/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i was told when they, it was a headcount. all i want is that people are treated and triaged medically correct. i became a whistleblower. now i'm a targetet. i will take a target any day to

do what is right and just be a part of -- amy: as the u.s. death toll from covid-19 nears 200,000, we speak to a nurse whistleblower inside an ice prison in georgia about shocking allegations from ignoring public health protocols during the pandemic to the forced sterilization and hysterectomies of detained immigrant women. we will also look at the latest debt inside an ice prison. plus, we will look at "belly of the beast," a disturbing new documentary on california's dark history of forced sterilizations inside women's prisons. >> you gave me aa hystererectomy for severere camamps -- cramps. >> gave me some kind otest and said iadad a froidid. >> i was told i had cancer cells. >> they told me i have my ovars s remod, i h h no choi.

so many peoe were getting hysterectomi.. amy: we will speako o the lm''s direor, as wl as a svivor ofterilization abuse who sdd the state of california over the practice. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democraracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. inin washington, d.c., the republblican race to replace t e late jusustice ruth badeder ging on t the supreme court is runnig full speed. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is charging ahead with plans to vote on president trump'p's nominee. >> the senate has more than sufficient time to process a nomination. istory and precedent make that perfectly clear. amy: trump said monday he would announce his nominee by week's end. mcconnell refused to hold confirmation hearings in 2016

for president obama'a's nonomin, nine months before the election. so far, only two republican senators -- lisa murkowski of alaska and susan collins of maine -- have said they do not support voting before the november election. democrats need four republicans to join them to block the nomination. but on monday, democrats were dealt a major setback when republican senators chuck gardner the colorado senate race and senator chuck presley of iowa said they both supported holding a vote on a nominee before the election. trump appeared by phone on fox news monday and falsely claimed that ginsburg's dying wish -- that she not be replaced until a new presidenent is insnstalled - was s a democrcratic hoax. pres. trump: i don't know if she saidid that worth itit was writn pelosi.dam schiff and

amy: justice ginsburg is scheduled to lie in state in the capitol friday, the first woman to receive the honor. before this, she will lie in repose at the supreme court for two days outside due to pandemic . she will be interred at t a private service next week at arlington national cemeterery, where her husband martin ginsburg wasas also buriried in 2010. attorney geneneral william barrs threreatening to cut bilillionsf dollars in fedederal funds to nw york city, seattle and portland after designating the cites as so-called anarchist jurisdictions. the justice department claims the cities "have permitted violence and destruction of property to persist." new york attorney general letitia james slammed the designation as illegal. she said -- "this designation is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to scare americans into voting for a commander-in-chief who is actually incapable of commanding our nation." as the u.s. coronavirus death

12 hitits -- death toll hits 200,000, the centers for disease control and prevention is facing new criticism. on friday, the cdc posted guidance on its website stating for the first time that covid-19 could possibly be spread by airborne transmission. but then on monday, the cdc deleted the informrmation saying it wasas posted in error. this marks the third time the cdc has posted coronavirus guidance and then reversed its position. meanwhile, alex azar, the secretary of health and human services, has signed a memo barring the food and drug administration and other health agencies from issuing or signing any new rules without his signature. critics describe azar's move as a power grab at a time when the fda will play a pivotal role in the approval process for a a potential covid-19 vaccine. meanwhile, "the daily beast" has revealed that a public relations staffer inside the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases secretly ran a right-wing website where he

called his boss, dr. anthony fauci, a mask nazi and implied that "governrnment officials responsisible for the pandemic response should be executed." these staffer william crews announced his retirement on monday after "the daily beast" exposed his work at the websitie redsdstate.com. in international news, 156 nations have formally joined together to ensure the fair distribution of future covid-19 vaccinines. the united states s and china he both declined to join the effort known as covax, which is being organized by the world health organization. a new report by house democrats finds imimmigrant prisisoners in u.s. custody systematically receive inadequate medical, dental and mental healthcare, and face solitary confinement as a punishment for speaking out. the report also details how immigrants are forced to clean

prisons as unpaid labor. as coronavirus cases continue to surge inside immigration and customs enforcement prisons, the report notes -- "the spread of covid-19 has further highlighted how the failures to meet these standards of care are a matter of life and death." in related news, cipririano chavez-a-alvarez, a 61-year-oldd maman from mexicico, died early monday in a a georgia hospital after getting covid-19 while imprisoned at the privately run stewart detention center. dies the 20th person to whilin ice custody this fiscal year, the highest number in the past 15 years. at least seven of these deaths ha been related to covid-19. in a afghanistan, dozensns of security personnel a and taliban fighters were killed across thte country sunday in the bloodiest day of fighting g since intra-afghan peace talks began a little over a weweek ago. on saturday, at least 12 civilians wewere reportedly kild in airirstrikes on a taliban bae in the northeaeastern province f kunduzuz.

in colombia, at least six people were killed in what locals say was a mamassacre sunday in the southwhwest region of cauca. at least one c child was among e victims. a local organization says this is the 10th massacre in the region so far this year. monitoring group say at least 60 massacres have occurred, killing 244. social leaders in particular have been targeted by armed groups. huhun rights a activists and members of the f filmmaking industry are calling for the release of award-winning sudanese filmmaker hajooj kuka, who was sentenced to two months in jail, alongside four other artists, after their theater workshop was raided. critics say it is part of a crackdown on the arts and activism. hajooj kuka is a member of the academy of motion picture arts and sciences and is best known for his documentary "beats of the antonov." he was active during the sudanese revolution that ousted longtime ruler omar al-bashir in april 2019. scientists say the arctic sea

ice shrank to its second-lowest level on record this summer, due to global heating. a recent study found that the climate in the arctic is changing so rapidly, the landscape is drastically shifting from being covered in ice and snow to being characterized by open wateter ad rain. this is s dr. laura meller from greenpeace. >> thehe rapid loss of sea ice n the arctic is a sobering inindicator of h how closely our plananet is s circli t the dra d that as the arcrctic melts, more heat will l be absorbebed by the ocean and all of us will be more exposed to the devastating impapacts of the climate breakdown. amy: the trump administration has tapped a meteorologigist who questions the lilink between extreme weather r and climimate change to be t the new chief scientist at noaoaa, the natioil oceanic and atmospheric administration. ryan maui is a former scholar at the libertarian cato institute who has publicly criticized many prominent climate scientists including dr. james hansen and the united nations intergovernmental panel on climate change.

texas has issusued disaster declarations in over two dozen counties andnd louisiana has declared a state of f emergencys tropical storm beta made landfall late monday, causing flooding along the coastline and washing away a galveston, texas, pier. the atlantic's record-breaking hurricane season this year marks just the second time in history meteorologists have had to start naming storms using the greek alphabet after exhausting possible names from letters a to w. in california, two kumeyaay land defenders were arrested tuesday -- on monday as the community engages in an ongoing protest against trump's border wall on sacred land. the kumeyaay land defenders and allies have peacefully camped and held prayer ceremonies along the wall construction's route in the san diego area for several weeks, successfully blocking the construction of nearly a mile of the border wall. the bureau of land management yesterday presented an order to evict the camp, threatening

protesters with arrest if they do not leave. the camp has also faced surveillance and harassment from and localrol and ice white supremacists. in related news, gizmodo reports customs and border protection droneses conducted flyovers near the homes of indigenous anti-pipeline activists, including tom goldtooth of the indigenous environmental network. meanwhile, i in arizona, tohono o'odham land and water defenders led a protest monday blocking the border wall's construction for several hours near a sacred spring inside the organ pipe national monument. protesters carried a banner that said "borders = genocide, no wall on o'odham land." nationalarark seice e anborderer patr agegentarriveveat the scene anststarteshovovin protestersfoforcinthemem t disperseftfter ahoururs-ng stanff. ll construction ewews inhe sonoradedesertave e deroyedd pristi l landspe a andumpedd millnsns of llonons oundwateused to x cement for ump'wall.

e governnt accouabililit office iinvestiging the pentago's inrest in ing heat rays against protesters near the white house, as well as the use of other so-called nonlethal weapons that were deployed on anti-police brutality protesters in recent months. demands for an independent investigation into the use of force began in june, just days after federal police violently cleared peaceful protesters from lafayette square in d.c. with tear gas and smoke. in florida, republican governor ron desantis announced plans for new legislation that aims to clamp down on prototests. the new measures, if passed, would charge protesters with felonies for property damage and impose mandatory jail time for hitting a police officer. the bill would also block local jurisdictions that move to defund police from r receiving florida state grants. in nebraska white bar owner who , a was indicted last week in the fatal shooting of james scurlock, a black protester, died by suicide. jake gardner died sunday, the day he was due to turn himself in to authorities.

james scurlock was shot dead on may 30 during protests over the killing of george floyd. he was 22 years old. and in kentucky, the louisville police announced a state of emergency monday as the city prepares for a grand jury decision in the police killing of breonna taylor. police fatally shot the 26-year-old black emergency room technician in her own home in -- on march 13. federal buildings have been closed for the week and federal forces were called in to the city last week. meanwhile, authorities inn wisconsin have announced the investigation of the police shooting of jacob blake in kenosha has entered its final stages. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report.. when we come back, as covid drills, another immigrant reported that from the virus monday in a georgia ice gel, we will go to georgia to

speak with the nurse whistleblower who says ice ignored public health protocols during the pandemic and forcibly sterilized detained immigrant women. dawn wooten will join us from atlanta. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amamy: "don't belilieve" by vasi bunyan. this is democracy now!, demomocracynow.org, the e quarae report. i am a amy goodman in new york joined by my cohost jujuan gonzalez from his home in new jersrsey. juan: welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: the official death toll from covid-19 in the united hitting 200,000, though the real number is almost certainly far highgher. some public health experts say ininfections could spike this fl and winterer and dououble the dh count by the end of the year. as the virus continues to spread we look now at allegations that immigration and customs enforcement helped spread the virus through medical neglect and abuse in ice jails. on monday, ice confirmed the

20th person to die in its detention in fiscal year 2020, making it one of the deadliest periods in the agency's history. cipriano chavez-alvarez was a 61-year-old mexican immigrant who had been held at the stewart detention center in lumpkin, georgia, and died in a nearby hospital. his passing marks the third covid-19 fatality at that jail. and the eighth known covid death in ice custody. ice says nearly 5700 prisoners nationwide have been infected with covid. this comes as an explosive complaint filed on behalf of a whistleblower nurse accuses a different ice jail in georgia, the irwin county detention center, of failing to protect both prisoners and employees from the virus. the whistleblower, dawn wooten, a nurse -- was a nurse at the jail. she said it failed to adhere to coronavirus safety protocols.

she also alleges a large number of unwanted hysterectomies have been performed on prisoners by a local doctor known as "the uterus collector." the complaint does not name a specificic staff doctotor, but lawyers for several people detained thehere have told tinaa vasqueuez at prism and other nenews outlets, including "the w york times," that he is an obstetrics and gynecology specialist named m mahendra ami, who o has an o office in the cif douglalas, near r the icjail. it has been reported aminn and otother doctors previously papad half $1 million in a settlement of a fraud allegegation. the intercepept reported that ththree prisoners said d in had performed atat least 20 hyststerectomies over sisix yea. one e said that whwhile amin w s excisising a cyst t from her ov, hehe removed part ofof a fallopn tube w without her conse. amin told the intercrcept that "everything is wrongng" about te complaint. ice said in a statement thatat

only two prisoners at t irwinn county had undergone hyststerectomies s since 2018,nd has nonot confirmemed how many r tentially ststerilizing surgeries were d done, such asas tutubal ligations. dawn wooten will join us in a minute to describe what she sas. she spoke out after nine women detained in irwin managed to film and have uploaded to youtube in aprpril. the women wore makeshift masks and held s signs that said, "the are sick people here," "we are not criminals," and "please help." one e by one, , they came forwao tell theheir stories. > i work in intakake. see the people who e enter. i sesee how the guards w work al stopopll i saw a athey ask peoplele to leave when nature m, women, whoeoever. theyey do nonot attend thehem. theyey do no ask them the necessary y questions to diagnoe ththem. we a are aririsk. theyey don't t give us anythingo cover r ourselves so we can prototect ourselves. i wawas the first t person thatt sick. i would to the clinic a and it

lasteded no more than five miminutes. they did not give me necessary resources. they simimply told me, a are fi, go bactoto your cell. >> weenie protectction, please. we just want people to o listeno their hearts bececause we are so many mothers inn thihis eyesore suffffering souch, so many had merelyly actionsns for the l lof god. why can't ice undererstand? whwhy do we have to wait m moren a yearar to get a court dadate? amamy: that was april. on mononday, democrats o on the house hohomeland s security committee issueded a report that concludeded immigrants in icee jails systematically receive inadequate medical, dentalal and mental health care, and face retaliation when they speak out. as coronavirus cases surge inside the prisons, the report notes -- "the spread of covid 19 has further highlighted how the failures to meet the standards of care are a matter of life and death." 160 comes as s at least

democratic members of congress sent a letter to the inspector general demanding an investigation into reports a doctor in georgia was performing hysterectomies on immigrant women at irwin without their consent. this is congresswoman bonnie watson coleman of new jersey speaking monday about whistleblower dawn wooten's allegagations. > my heaeart has beeeen broky some of the e things i havee red over the last t couple o of wee. i am defefinitelely very concerd about what we heard from the whistleblower dawn wooten about the barbaric treatment of detainees at irwin county detention center in georgia. and if these allegations are true, this is probably one of the most inhumane things i havee heard d coming out of an administstration t that i thinks -- bottom to its low. amy: all of this comes as ice has now temporarily halted the

deportation of pauline binam, a cameroonian mother who says she was involuntarily sterilized while detained in georgia. binam was already on the plane wednesday when her deportation was stopped. she has lived in thehe united states sinince the a age of two. for more, we are joined from atlanta, georgia, by dawn wooten, the licensed practical nurse who o filed this wididely discussed whistleblower complaint to the department of homeland security's office of inspector general about t abuses at the privately-run irwin county detention center in georgia. also with us in atlanta is azadeh shahshahani, legal and advocacy director at project south which helplped file the complaint. we welcome you both to democrary now! dawn wooten, let's begin with you on this issue of forced sterilization, of hysterectomies, that is included in this comomplaint. can you explain what the women

mean when they talk about the uterus collector? >> [indiscernible] i had a couple of women come to me and say every time we go out or every time we go to this , they had this in common. they would talk about him being the uterus c collectoror. in hearing it, you don't know what to say or how to respond, but that was the term they had come thethe time uterus colollector. her actutual question was, why does he go around collecting eveveryone's uterus? it is jaw-drdropping.

there's really not a a responseo give them that terminology, but that is the terminology that was given to me. wooten, how many of these wowomen were y you able to talk to directly, and wewere soe of them m giving you secondhand ininformation they h had heardrm other womemen in the center? >> yes. [indiscecernible] they build families inside the dormitory. they shared experiences a and shared l life storories. they bececome reallyly close. hearing thattn a has survived, that term "t"the uterus collectctor." you have also r raised in situation intt the terms of the treatmtment of

detainees in geneneral and a reference e to covid.. could you talk about direct experiences you had with how the facility was dealing with covid patients? >> yes. firirst comeneverr we , the first case that was there was not a case. like it was invincible. share otherto employees. we were not to share it with h - i'm sorry, w we were not to s se amongst ourselves. there e was a time where i was t thatahat you don't inform this s person's covid-positiviv. in the begininning, [indiscernible] wewe did not have properer ppe n the begiining. it never exixisted.

ththere were more cases that simply a appeared. we were still at a a place [indiscernible] about it.talk don't you discussss it. ththat's not true.. i have an underlying coconditio. [indiscernible] they were not t reporting to the health department. theyey were not reporting to the cdc. there were cases inin the beginning that were not accounted for. became in f fear not just for myself, but for the liveses of othersrs around me asas well asy children. [indiscernible] until july 2 i still had not

that i knknew was in the buildlding. someone stopped me in the halls and said, can you check this man? i went to checkck the detainee's tetemp and i it was 101.8. [indiscernible] it is not prprofessional nursi. he was not tested. [indiscerniblele]

it was inhumane. it was not justifiably correct. you treat people how you want to be treated. you don't treat people as i it theyey don''t e exist. they were ignored. we did not have anything to saninitize with. we were nonot wiping down. there was not six feet distance. we were a couple of nurses in a room [indiscernible] it was not taken seriously. and for for my life others. amy: you yourself, dawn wooten, suffer from sickle-cell. you voiced your complaint about the lack of protection for staff, like you a nurse as well as the prisoners. can you talk about whether or not you thihink that was related to your demotion.n. >> i do.

i have sickle-cell. i had to have a minute procedure. when i took itit to my supervis, i was told, even though you're going to be covid-tested, can still come to work. wear our mask. onent to the physician early i was d diagnosed with an upper r respiratory infection. i had fluid on my lungs. i was on antibiotics. was running a temp. i had diarrhea. i had headaches. i had chest pain. i had a raspy cough. i was told i could still present to work because my test confirmed i was negative when i was symptomatic. amy: i want to bring azadedeh shahshahani into the conversation becausese we just reported that another person n s prison -- not at

rked, whwhere nurse wooten wo but a separatete facility. i was wondering if you can tell us the latest news on him. > sure, aiming. thank you for havaving me. firsrst, i want to say as part f a movement that believes systematic state violence is not to be e tolerated in any form, o whether it is ice cagaging and harming immigrants or cucups murdering black peoeople with impunity. wewe are truly honored at projet south to be repreresenting g mso oten. she is a hero for telling us ababout these outrageous conduct on behalf of the facility. about't knowow very much ththe death of cipriano chavez-alvarez, a 61-year-old man, a mexican national. as far as i i know, ice h has nt even issued d a press statementt this point.

but t what we do know i is this markrks the e third death at ths detention c center dururing the pandemic, s so agreeeement have alalready died of covid-19 are cocomplications s related to covid-19. and to have thewere elder, including mr. ciprianano chavez-alvarezez, and th other had a 34-year-old man who diabetes. so the question is, why would ice continue to hold peoplple wo are elderly or have pre-existing conditions in facility that you already know is a deadly one? seven people have died at the stewart detention center just in the past three years. two of them by suicide after being placecein solitarary for prolonged periods of time. those e of us on the ground have called for this facility, stored, as well as r1, to be shut down foror a long time. the question t tt we havee is

what does it take foror decision-makers to finally move and dodo something about this before was the additional tragedies at thehese facilities? juan: we played at the b beginng of t this segment a clip of some of the women at the facilitity talking about the conditions back i in april. could you u talk about the contt of that and what happened to those women after this video got out? close sure. instead of addressing the concerns and taking care of thte people inside to make sure this deadly disease does not spread, the facility run by a private cocorporation lasalle proceededo retataliatee a against all the n who were involved in the making of that videoeo in anyway. so thehey place ththem in solity confinement fofor number of days and that led to extreme emotional and mental health damage for all of them. most and one of the

egregious points raised in the complaint of dawn n woen is whether therere has been sterilizionsns of wome occurring g at irwin without thr consnsent. could you talk about what your organization knows about this and how extensive it is? >> sure. thanks to ms. dawn wooten and her courage and a coming out about all of this in the documentation and the complaint we were able to release, that has reallyly opened ththe d dooa lot of lawyers coming forward, a lot of immigrants coming forward -- you know, we are in n touch with lawyers trying to track down women all over the world who have been at the facility anand have suffefered some typef violation to their b body. it is truly egregious that immigrgrant women n at a truly vulnerable situationon at this facility come at the mercy of ice and the lasalle corporation,

were treated in this fashion. what we do know is there were hysterectotomies, other procedus that were done on women without their cononsent. i i would likeke to addressss 's reresponse in terms of the numbr of hysterectomies. first of all what they said is they know of only two people being referred for hysterectomimies. part of what we're sayg is that based on what we e know abt what is h happening and what ths doctor was doing, people may have been referred for something as paulineorr issue binam, she went in for a minor isissue and the nextxt thing she knew, her fallopian tube was taken out that led to sterilization. the question is,s, what happened at the doctor's office in terms of the prorocedures? secondly, , those ofof us that e been doing immigrants rights for a long time know that ice has no moral credibility whatsoever and

anything that they say should be taken with a grain of salt. shredding medical infoformation at this facility. that also shines a doubt on what ice is asserting here. and they themselves are saying they have not been able to determine the true number of gone -- and a call logicalal procedures done onon women. -- gynecological procedures done on women. there is absolutely a need for an independent and thorough investigation by the deparartmet of homeland security office of inspector general by congress, and we need to shut this place down. amy: we reported earlier tina basque as at prism and other outlets including "the new york times" say that the doctor is in obstetrics and gynecology specialist named amin who has an office in douglas near the ice

gel. it is reported that he and other doctors previously paid hahalf 1 fraudn in a medicare allegation years ago. what do you know about him? commit the medicacal directoror of ice health servrvs corporation sangng the reportt would bebe investigated but that the agency "vehememently disputs the imimplicatioion that detains are e used for expxperimental medical procedures." int do know a about dr. amin particular and overall, are mome doctors involved? >> what the media has reported about dr. amin -- i shohould clarify y that project south fis n not able to confirm ththe idedentity of the doctoror. whwhat the reporteter -- - the memedia has reported abobout dr. amin, was not board-certified.

which raraises the question abot the level of care that ice h has for the people in itits custody, thatat they wowould send peopler a number of yeaears to aa positn who is not e even b board-certid -- physician who is not e en board-certified.d. the media harereported inn addition to o the settlement tht you mentioned with the a aminent of justice, dr. was involved in a serieses of lawsuits. that remains to be invesestigat. wewe do not know for sure whethr there were other physicians involved in terms o of what was happening at the facility in terms of referring people to him .. that all needs to bebe invevestigatated. that is why we filed a report. amy: is he still operatiting at the jail? haveom whatat we knowow, they stopopped refeferring p people . aminin, but that have been very,

very late in the game. amamy: dawn wooten, i know you haveve to leave and we so appreciate youou taking this ti, do you fear for your own safety as you speak out? and what happepens to those inse the prison? the immimigrant women who speak out? is an issue.. -- have't gotten any wild threatsts or anybody sayin, he we're going to come after you, but at the same time, it is an issue bececause anytime you hold m morally and ethically and you do what is r right and correct, youou have to realize that now i have become a target. [indiscecernible] i empathize with the lady speaking out a at the facility because we live in the real

world and we are procecessing te real world differenently. women we are -- as supposed to remain silent according to the world and w w'e not susupposed to hahave a voic. so in spspeaking out, i am and for howowthem they'rere going to be t treatedd isolated. juan: i wowould like t to ask ah shahshahani, a lot of people don't realize still, unfortunately, that the people theird in detention in ice largely there on civil issueues and aree waititing hearings in their cases. they are not cririminals, yet ty are treated in large part by the governrnments detetention centes crcriminals.s.

shohould say, o obviously, regardless of what offense a peperson may bee have accused or not in this corrupt c criminal legal process, o obviouslyly, everybody isis entitled to fundamental human rights and shouldld be fighting for everybody's s human digngnity te same. but it is true that these facilities are civil detention centers and the people held in these facilities, many of them are awaiting deportation proceedings or maybe asylum-seekers, maybe afraid of torture in their home countries and that is whyhy they fled to e u.s. to try to find refuge in this country. , the u.s.s. government places them in this horde plala where they are -- horde place where they are denieied medicacl care, clean water, good food, edible fooood. and when they complain,n, the u. government and that -- ththey ae

retaliating against them, placing them in solitary confinement and trying to basically shut down their voices. amy: and the significance of now the house calling for an investigation into all of this? i mean, yet houston congressmember sheila jackson lee, pramimila jayapal before se was a congressmember major immigrant rights activist in seattle, leading this charge and getting 160 congress members to sign on, which led to pauline binam being taken off the airplane as it was about to take off in chicago. what do you want to see come out of this investigation? especiallyhuge, those of us on the ground having been calling for a n number of years on congress to act and they did not come even after people started dying at stewart.

they d did not do anythihing significant. as a result of the national outrage,e, last week, we are gld that congress is paying attention. we havave been contactctedy multiple c congressional staffes about the complaint most so wee do hope that there is contntinud homelande on the p part of security inspector general so they conduct a thorough andd invevested -- indedependent investigation of violations in the facility. there is been a lot of attention --evils s the doctor did.. the proboblem goes beyond this e doctor. these aree in the custody of u.. governmement. at the e end of the day, the b k ststops wititice, the was government. they need to be held accountable at the private prison corporation. what we're demanding is the facility be shut down. amy: azadeh shahshahani, thank you for being with us, legal and advocacy director at project south.

and dawn wooten, thahank you for being with us, licenensed practical nurse who filed a whistltleblower complaint aboutt the irwin county detention center in georgia. we will continue to cover this issue. when we come back, we look at "belly of the beast," a document on california's dark history of forced sterilizations inside women's prprisons.s. stayay with usus. ♪ [ [music break]

amy:y: "if notot now" by tracy chapman. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the horrrrific exposure of forcd hysterectomies a at an ice jailn georgia a has forcrced a reckong with the u.s.'s long history of sterilizatioions -- particularly of black, brown, poor, andnd disabled people -- and the w way this procedure h has continued n jails and prisonons to present daday. we go o now to california a whea new w documentary is bngnging e of these dtuturbing stororieto light. in 200 k kelliillolon s sterizized athe e ceral cafornia wen'facilityn chowchil. the motherf f two herer ely 20's w told she was gog g into surgery r r ovarn cycyst shlater lened she d been given hyhystertomymy. dillll was nototlone.. according a a rept frfrom

revealenenter r ininveigative reportin between006 and 10 e califoia deparent of correctis and rebilitati steriliz nearly 0 women withourequiredtate appval. pris staff rortedly rgeted and erced won who th thght wereikely toeturn to ison. up to 0 more m have underge the sa treatme as far backs 1997. threvelatis were ahilling minder othe 20thentury eugenics program in whh h 32 states, including california, forciblyteterilid pepeop -- ny poor,isabled d people of color- for dedes. in 26, kelliillon beme the first rvivor osterilizion abuse toueue thealififora departmentnt of corrections for damages. "belly of the beast" tells her story and chronicles her fight to hold the state of california accountable. this is the film's trailer. >> there is aulture o seccy in cifornia. >> have some fear, wt kind

of reperssions will i gefor cong on antalking out this? i havalways bn a fighter. it wasaturally burst until i wawas in prison. >> it is a pelvic ex.. he said i had a fibroid. >> i was told i hacacancerelll s. >> i felt like somethingasas wrong. >>e were getting hdreds of letts about medical ususes ery month. >> doctor toldou -- >> i have ver beenold that. >> i had bn intentionally sterilized a lied to. >> the law prohibi steriling pele in pron for t purpose of birth control. they were doing it awaway. >> what are the chlelengesithh intent.ry,

that is athe docr said, well, it is cheaper than lflfare. > i was looking at these documents that wasonfifirmg as blackk woman, my lif wasn't [bleep] ♪ >> i was very mu intimidated by who i w g goingp agagait. ♪ >> the state has admitd they have done these illega surgeries, but we d't tually knowow w they y d them on. it makes it ey y to ase them >> women in california being coervelyly srilizezeis absolutely revolti. ♪ yet to get an

apogogy. h have yet to be acknowlgeged. this stateas to beade accountable. ♪ amy: that's the trailer for "belelly of the beast." we're joined nonow by kelli dillon, whosose fight against te california department of corrections is the subject of "belly of ththe beast." also the founder of commmmunity empowerment organization back to basics in los angeles. and in salt lake city, utah, we're joined by the film's director erika cohn. we welcome you both to democracy now! to 2006. back he became the first survivor of sterilization abuse to sue the california department of corrections and r rehabilitation for damages. in 2014, california banned coerced sterilizations and many people say it is largely because of what you started in 2006.

take us baback to when youou wee imprisoned a w what happenened o you. >> as i am sitting here listening to the story that dawn somen is expressing about of thehe detaiainees in the ice facility, ththose stories ring o parallel to mymy story of whwhas happening. i was 19 years old when i was first sent t to prison. 23, ismhehe age of regular, in no -- i will state female issueues that i was sticking outut the doctor for. i wawas told i had an abnormal p smear and that i wouldld need a cone biopsy to check that out. so i agreed to it. we discucussed i if they found cancer, would i i want to hysterectomymy. i was young at the time, very

much andnd educated, did not really know the p procedures or any other medical options. i wasn't scared of cancer, like most of us are. i said, ok, yes, if you find cancer, , you can perform a hysterectotomy. but when he went into do the biopsy and to a also remove what they say possibly was some cysts,s, he e intentionally cutf the blood supply to my over ice -- ovaries and began to perform what was a sterilization on me. , , how soon afterwards did you realize thatat sometethg was wrong with what they had done do you and can you t tell s about what it t was like to tre back t t sequence e of eventntsf what they had done do you? >> yes. spiritually, that of c course we feel connected to certain things and immediately

coming out of the surgrgery, i jujust f felt like, ok -- number one, i was scared if i had cancer b but then i just felt different. in the days ofof recovery, it ft like somethihing was not right. but t i did not t pay any atten. i thought maybe it was just my nerves. when the doctor totold me he did not find any cancer, did not tell me anythingng else, i was relieved. but several monthshs after t thi began n to experience menopausul sympmptoms at the age of 24.4. i had hot flashes, heart palpitations, and just different things t that was happening to . i said, something has to be going on. when i began to weston or --? write the staff in the prison to see what happened to be to get some answers as to what t happed in surgery, , they began to stat giving me the runaround. so actually, it took wiwith the help of an agency callelejustice now in the social activist

attorney by the n name of cyntha chandler, also in the filmlm, it took us about a year or so for us t to get my medical records actually figight, to write, almt sue them just for the medical recocords. when i finally got them, she is the one who told me as she read througthe medil records that i had beenntntentiallyly sterililed. that is sothing that ople need tknknow i that we d't have accs to that medical infoation. it iwithheld, even thgh to evernene elsit m mayeem lili a privileg to ask r aopy ofof her predure th happeneto yo but for us, we a w withheld that information. and ase pss, as y guyuys discususd in thehe ietenenti nterer, areeprimamaed and sometiss p in locown for differt situations. we a punisheto g go ter ththe medical records.

juan: inerms of - -- why did you finally decide to come forwaward and talk abobout your experienc? >> yes. it took a lot of nerves for me to first sue t them for what had happened while still incarcerated. i had rereceived a lot off different threats from the medical staff, the chief medical officer, as wewell as some of te correctional officers that were in there about progressions that i would face ifif i continue onn my lawsusuit. but the question is, what would you do if yoyou found out thatat something like thihi happen to you? i just felt like i could not allow cdc to continue on. but the real price of me wanting to seek justice had a lot to do with thehe fact that i had to se

other women a around my age, around childbearing age between maybe 24 to 35 years of age coming back with all of these hysterectomies. and even though we did not say they were the uterus collector like that doctorsrs coined d in georgia,a, but i b began to seet is happepening, moststly african-american women or women of color come in very healthy, strong, , childbearing w women d then all of a sudden,n, we need all of these hysterectomies. and for that -- the fight wasn't just for me. the fight was also for my sisters that t i thought had ben wronged as well. ahad the privilege of having natural legal team to assist me -- an actual legal team to assist me. amy: i want to go to another from "belly of the beast." >> you gave e me a hystererectoy

for sevevere cramps. cooks he gavee some kind of test and said i had fibroids. >> was told i had canc c cell s.s. >> they told me i do have my ovaries reveved, iad n no oice. >> we called them surgeries of thmonth beuse they're happening so frequently. so many people were getting hysterectomies. that was a cure-all. amy: that is a clip from "belly of the beast." we want to bring in the films director erika cohn.. anddetermined between 1997 202013 over 1400 sterilizations were p performed. can you talk about this shocking figure in the work you did, the years you spent on this documentary? >> thank you so much for having me. we calculated that between california state audit and prison records that nearly 1400 sterilization procedures occurred between 1997 and 2013.

and since 2014, since the bill was passed in california rendering sterilizations for the purpose of birth control illegal -- which i think it is important to know it was already illegal according to state, federal, and international law -- california is required to report the number of sterilization procedures performed each year and premedical necessity around each procedure. one of the ways that california wawas able to find a a loophole around these procedures previously was because they y we able to classify them as medically necessary. when we know in many instance thesprprocedes a actlly wewe not medically necessary. ano i belie that accountality, hoing o instutions aountable ithe ly way wcan prevevent futur abususes le these from ppening. , thesesa cohn

situationsappening in the last 20ears, the is acally muc long historyf this, f inststan, it haseeeen well-docenented atat in erto ri i in thlate 10'0'nd 19's,here was systemi sterilation ofomen of chilearing age, estites out one thirdf all women o chilearing age in puerto r ric wewere srilized during tt period- again,s a a faly planning or bihh controlysystem withthouany kindf explation t w women owhwhat was tually hapning, inrmed nsent did not co unt the 1970's were 19's a reirement. so theres been aong histy inhis couny ofof ts tytype of oppression of women, hasn't there? >> absolutely. forced sterilization is genocide. the legacy of forced sterilization under the u.s. is deeply rooted in white supremacy. my actual connection to the story comes from that eugenicscs

history. i was first introduced to cynthia chandler in 2010, the attorney featured in the film, through mutual friend. i was inspired by her work at thestice now, specifically families have a future campaign that exposed the multiple ways that prisons desesoy the basasic human rights off family -- one f the most heinous things that poor sterilizatition starting women of cocolor. as a jewisish woman who grow up the phrase "never againin" was always profoundly in the back of my mind. when i learned there was a different kind of genocide happening through imprisonment, through forced realization behind bars, i knew that i wanted to get involved. initially was by becoming a volunteer with justice now and later becoming a volunteer,

legal advocate working with over 150 people whoho were incarcerad in california's women's prison. as you see in the film and as you are talking about that history of eugenics in the united states, it is not something we talk about a lot. when we hear the word "eugenics," we think of the holocaust. it actually what we don't talk about is the founding of the eugenics movement in the united states and how nazi germany came to california to learn from our eugenics leaders to take our policies and practices back. amy: we are going to leave it there but do part two and have a continued conversation with you. i do want to give kelly the last word. you have 10 seconds. what w would justice look like r you? close right now w we have a online bellyofth ebeastfilmlm.com to see compensation -- to seek

compensation. we are looking for compensation for not only the survivors, but for the ones that are unknown as well. amy: kelli dillon, thank you for being with us, as well as erika cohn

thank you for joining us. from our studio in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline." we start in the u.s. with another grim milestone. johns hopkins university says the country's coronavirus deaths have climbed above 200,000. the united states has been hit worse thanny