Take My Hand(81)

Lou walked back to the table as if to consult his notes. I never knew how much of his walking back and forth to read documents was courtroom theatrics. “For the court record, can you state the publication date of this report?”

“May of this year, sir. Approximately six months ago.”

“And could you explain to the court the contents of this report?”

The doctor pushed his glasses up his nose. “In our research, we gathered information from Baltimore City Hospital, Los Angeles County Hospital, and Boston City Hospital. In our findings, we documented numerous sterilization abuses in all of these hospitals.”

“Could you please describe what you mean by abuses?”

“Well, women—many of them Medicaid patients—were asked to consent to sterilization during childbirth, especially women who already had three or more children.”

“During childbirth?”

“Yes, sir. Most of the women reported that they had never discussed sterilization with the doctor prior to the delivery room. We also found that the forms they signed at Baltimore City Hospital consisted of only seven lines. The lines stated that the patient was voluntarily consenting to the sterilization and would in all probability never bear children again. There was no information provided on the form about the benefits, risks, or alternatives to sterilization.”

“Your Honor, we have a copy of the Baltimore City Hospital sterilization form.”

Lou waited while the judge reviewed it. Sunlight streamed through the window. It was one of those chilly fall mornings when the sun shone so brightly that you could not help but want to be outside. I knew with this kind of sunlight Mama would be in her studio all day. Daddy would try to wrap up his day as early as possible so he could get home to cook dinner. I had never been one for the outdoors, but I had awakened early that morning and sat in a chair on our back porch, looking out at the yard, watching as the leaves rose and fell with the wind.

“Dr. Rosenstein, did you find that the women were legally capable of consent?”

“Yes, they were legally capable in most instances.”

“But they were given limited information?”

“Yes, sir. We even found that many believed the procedure was entirely reversible, despite the form’s language.”

“So they believed sterilization was a temporary form of birth control?”

“Exactly, sir.”

“And many of them were poor women who received Medicaid?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I have no more questions, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Peters. Would you like to cross-examine?”

The government lawyer did not stand. “No, Your Honor.”

Weinberger was not in court today. On the defense side, it was just the three government lawyers. Two unidentified men sat in the pew directly behind the lawyers. Later, I would learn one was the Assistant Secretary, the other an Alabama congressman. Had I known who they were, I might have had a better guess as to how important the case was becoming. Lou didn’t appear concerned. He was like a soldier, looking neither right nor left. The government lawyer appeared relaxed as he asked his questions from the comfort of his swivel chair. Lou never stayed seated when he was examining a witness.

As Dr. Rosenstein left the witness stand, I noticed the smartness of his attire. I could not help but think that even with all his information and knowledge, he was powerless to stop the surgeries.

I wished I could see Lou’s face. His back was to me. He was trying to get the laws changed, and his case might be thrown out if the judge determined that the laws had already changed and there was no longer any need for injunctive relief.

Lou called a second doctor. “Your Honor, I call Dr. Barbara Robard.”

A woman who had been sitting in the back row stood. I had assumed she was a local, an onlooker like me. I waited impatiently for her to be sworn in. I had been around enough of my dad’s Meharry friends to have met Black women doctors, but even I had to admit there had not been many.

“Dr. Robard, please state your position and title.”

“I am director of research at the Health Policy Advisory Center in Washington, DC.”

A PhD or a medical doctor? Or both? I wished Lou would clarify. The woman intrigued me.

“What has your research revealed about the rates of sterilization in this country?”

“Mr. Feldman, we have found that sterilization is the rule, not the exception. It is widely endemic in this country. It is a form of reproductive control.”

Lou was nailing it now. This was exactly what he wanted the judge to hear.

“Objection, Your Honor.”

“On what grounds, counsel?”

“Hyperbole.”

“Sustained.”

I shook my head. The defense lawyer hadn’t even offered a real objection, and the judge had let him have it. The woman on the stand did not appear perturbed and neither did Lou.

“Dr. Robard, could you give us some statistics from your research?”

“Last year we did a survey and found that although two-thirds of federally funded clinics’ patients are white and only one third are Black, 43 percent of those sterilized are Black. A report from the US government”—she pointed at the government lawyers—“found that between the summer of 1972 and the summer of 1973, twenty-five thousand adults were sterilized in federally funded clinics. Of these, 153 were under the age of eighteen—”