Condemning Unwanted, Unnecessary Medical Procedures on Individuals Without Their Full, Informed Consent

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Judiciary Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for organizing the trip to Irwin County Detention Center. I was one of those who went to witness firsthand what was going on.

I want to thank Representative Jayapal for this resolution and her leadership in this matter.

As a medical and public health expert, I have found three gross categories of violations in Irwin County Detention Center.

One is there were not sufficient precautions to prevent COVID-19 from causing an outbreak in the facilities. There was only one mask issued upon arrival, and the second mask was not issued until the day before we arrived, knowing we were going to arrive. Some women were there for 6, 7 months.

The second is that there was a COVID-19 positive patient in the facility, yet at the medical quarters, nobody was wearing an N95 mask, which could put the staff and other people in jeopardy. The COVID-19 patient was reported to be in isolation during the time that we were there.

Furthermore, the second problem in public health is the lack of hygiene maintenance in the facility. There were reports that the curtains were infested with mold. There was mold in the showers. Clothing hadn't been washed. They were issued sweatpants and sweatshirts; they were visibly dirty and torn.

When I inspected the showers myself, I saw that, in fact, there was mold in the showers. The curtains were replaced the day before or 2 days before we had arrived. So that is a problem in the face of human dignity and also in requiring personal hygiene to stay safe from COVID- 19.

Furthermore, going back to the first category, I forgot to mention that the bunk beds were very small, and they were only 3 feet apart in their sleeping quarters, so that was also not following CDC recommendations.

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Mr. RUIZ. In terms of the third violation, which is the most outstanding and outrageous violation, it was that procedures were done without the women's informed consent. There were gynecological procedures, as was mentioned: total hysterectomy; partial hysterectomy; most of them were oophorectomies; most of them were cystectomies.

But the point here is that whenever you have any gynecological procedure, that can result in scarring, future pain, possible chronic pain, and also infertility. Therefore, you need informed consent.

It is medical practice to have informed consent, which requires an explanation of your disease, of the illness, of the procedure, including risks and any alternative options, including the option of doing nothing, in the language that the patient understands.

Not doing so, not documenting it, is a violation of that informed consent. Violating informed consent and putting a blade to a woman's body, without her understanding or her informed consent, is an assault.

That is why we need fully to condemn this practice. That is why we need to fully investigate through the inspector general, through the FBI, through the Georgia medical and surgeon license board to ensure that this doesn't happen, that it is not happening in other private detention facilities throughout the country, in rural areas where perhaps they think they might get away with it because, after all, these are very disempowered women without very strong advocacy in those locations.

I am very thankful for the lawyers, for those that brought this to light, that have empowered the voices, including a 22-year-old woman who now will never be able to have children.

I support this resolution to send a very strong message to all facilities and all doctors that every woman requires fully informed consent before any procedure.

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