Indian Health Service Sterilizes Estimated 25% of Native American Women

A 1974 Government Accountability Office investigation found the Indian Health Service had sterilized at least 3,406 Native American women between 1973-1976 without proper informed consent. Scholars estimated that up to 25% of Native women were sterilized during the 1970s. The program targeted women on welfare and those deemed 'unfit,' using coercive consent practices.