In California, a former prisoner and a lawyer launch into a years-long battle with a system that, despite the law, takes away some women’s right to bring a new life into the world.

The documentary reveals the illegal practices found in California’s women’s prisons, including poor healthcare, sexual abuse, and even illegal sterilisation without the prisoners’ knowledge or consent. For the most part, the victims of these practices are women of colour. The film tracks the 7-years-long efforts of former prisoner Kelli Dillon, who was involuntarily sterilised by the state when she was 24, and lawyer Cynthia Chandler to uncover a systematic breach of women prisoners’ rights and obtain justice for women who have become victims of “modern eugenics” in the 21st century. From 1997 to 2014 more than a thousand women were forced to undergo sterilisation in California prisons.