{"id":102236,"date":"2026-02-24T13:48:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T18:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=102236"},"modified":"2026-02-24T13:48:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T18:48:57","slug":"survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/","title":{"rendered":"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alessia Passafiume Parliament must pass legislation to criminalize non-consensual sterilization, survivors said Tuesday in a press conference on Parliament Hill. Bill S-228 passed the Senate last fall, and is scheduled to have its first real debate in the House of Commons on Thursday. The bill would amend the Criminal Code to make sterilizing a person without obtaining informed consent an act of aggravated assault. The Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice said it’s estimated between 12,000 and 15,000 individuals have been sterilized in the country without proper consent, including cases as recently as last year. The procedure disproportionately harms Indigenous women but has also affected people with disabilities, racialized women and members of the LGBTQ community. Heather Bear said stories like hers aren’t acceptable. “It’s been hard and gruelling to… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alessia Passafiume Parliament must pass legislation to criminalize non-consensual sterilization, survivors said Tuesday in a press conference on Parliament Hill. Bill S-228 passed the Senate last fall, and is scheduled to have its first real debate in the House of Commons on Thursday. The bill would amend the Criminal Code to make sterilizing a person without obtaining informed consent an act of aggravated assault. The Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice said it’s estimated between 12,000 and 15,000 individuals have been sterilized in the country without proper consent, including cases as recently as last year. The procedure disproportionately harms Indigenous women but has also affected people with disabilities, racialized women and members of the LGBTQ community. Heather Bear said stories like hers aren’t acceptable. “It’s been hard and gruelling to... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nSurvivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alessia Passafiume Parliament must pass legislation to criminalize non-consensual sterilization, survivors said Tuesday in a press conference on Parliament Hill. Bill S-228 passed the Senate last fall, and is scheduled to have its first real debate in the House of Commons on Thursday. The bill would amend the Criminal Code to make sterilizing a person without obtaining informed consent an act of aggravated assault. The Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice said it’s estimated between 12,000 and 15,000 individuals have been sterilized in the country without proper consent, including cases as recently as last year. The procedure disproportionately harms Indigenous women but has also affected people with disabilities, racialized women and members of the LGBTQ community. Heather Bear said stories like hers aren’t acceptable. “It’s been hard and gruelling to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T18:48:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/24\\\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/24\\\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-24T18:48:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/24\\\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":492,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/24\\\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/24\\\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\\\/\",\"name\":\"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-24T18:48:57+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/24\\\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/24\\\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/24\\\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Alessia Passafiume Parliament must pass legislation to criminalize non-consensual sterilization, survivors said Tuesday in a press conference on Parliament Hill. Bill S-228 passed the Senate last fall, and is scheduled to have its first real debate in the House of Commons on Thursday. The bill would amend the Criminal Code to make sterilizing a person without obtaining informed consent an act of aggravated assault. The Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice said it’s estimated between 12,000 and 15,000 individuals have been sterilized in the country without proper consent, including cases as recently as last year. The procedure disproportionately harms Indigenous women but has also affected people with disabilities, racialized women and members of the LGBTQ community. Heather Bear said stories like hers aren’t acceptable. “It’s been hard and gruelling to","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-24T18:48:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization","datePublished":"2026-02-24T18:48:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/"},"wordCount":492,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/","name":"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-02-24T18:48:57+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/survivors-call-on-ottawa-to-pass-bill-to-criminalize-forced-or-coerced-sterilization\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Survivors call on Ottawa to pass bill to criminalize forced or coerced sterilization"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102237,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102236\/revisions\/102237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}