Mary Gay Scanlon: “The whistleblower complaint raises multiple serious questions which should concern every Member of this body and the…”

“The whistleblower complaint raises multiple serious questions which should concern every Member of this body and the administration. First, these women were apparently subjected to unnecessary and inappropriate medical care without their consent, which, in many cases, has rendered them unable to have children, one of the most precious decisions a family can make. Second, think about the circumstances. Many of these women did not speak English and had no access to interpreters to explain the procedures to which they were subjected. They were being held in detention, awaiting adjudication of their legal applications to stay in this country, not for any crime. But they had no access to family members, their family doctors, or legal counsel. Many report that they went to the doctor for unrelated medical conditions and only learned that they had been subjected to surgery after the fact. Finally, we must determine how such outrageous and inhumane treatment of human beings in the custody of a U.S. agency could be allowed to occur, and we must hold that agency, as well as the detention center, the facility, the private prison operator, and the medical personnel, accountable. I cannot even begin to express how appalling these allegations are and the stain that, if found to be accurate in their entirety, they will leave on this country.…”