​Saskatoon Health Region is supporting the calls to action listed in the external review of reported experiences of Aboriginal women being coerced into tubal ligations, a method of birth control. Tubal ligation is a surgical procedure in which a woman's fallopian tubes are clamped or severed and is considered a permanent method of birth control.

The calls to action are part of a 56-page report which was authored by Dr. Yvonne Boyer, a lawyer and Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Health and Wellness at Brandon University, and Dr. Judy Bartlett, a physician and former professor with the College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, as the result of a six-month independent external review.

The external review was launched in January 2017 after Aboriginal women came forward with concerns about being coerced into having tubal ligations after delivery of their babies.

The report findings indicates the women interviewed “clearly felt stressed and under much duress from being coerced to have a tubal ligation while in labour”. With themes of “feeling invisible, profiled and powerless” emerging from their interviews, the women have indicated compelling stories of these experiences affecting their self-image, relationships and trust of the health care system. Based on their insights and those from care providers, the reviewers have developed ten calls to action.

The Health Region will be sharing the report and discussing the calls to actions with government agencies and other partners with the hope that together we can begin to address the root causes of these inequalities and discrimination.

Read the entire report.

Read the news release issued July 27, 2017

Watch a video of news conference July 27, 2017 (YouTube Runs 43 mins)