Sterilization... a dead tree

Here's a story about forced sterilzation of women.

That sounds terrible.

When it is not forced, but voluntary for so many people in the U.S., then we
use words like "snipped", "had my tubes tied".

Catholics who have lifted their hearts by taking their Church's teaching in Humanae
Vitae to heart, know that this is just a word game caused by shame and sin
in fighting against God.

Voluntary or forced, it is the same abuse.

"A sterilized woman is like a dead tree, all that remains is for it to be cut down." In an emotion-filled voice, Natasa Botosova, 39, recounts her case to around 15 gypsy women, determined, like her, to obtain justice after years of silence.

Ferencikova, whose outrage at what happened to her has not dimmed since the event in 2001, explained what happened: "They were going to perform a Cesarian, they made me sign a paper, then I learnt when I woke up that I had been sterilized."

Protests against such eugenic practices have been voiced in the Czech Republic since 1978, but a Czech representative in 2003 assured a session of the United Nations that they were "a myth."

"For years we pressured gypsies to get sterilized because we thought it was for their own good, I did that myself, that is what we were taught in schools,"

The sterilization issue is far from creating unanimity within Czech society. "Everyone knows that the gypsies have children for the family benefits they can claim, that the women were sterilized for the bonuses and that today their only goal is to obtain fresh damages," Katarina, a young Ostrava teacher, commented bluntly.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060222/hl_afp/czechhealthsociety