From the Winston-Salem Journal and the Asheville Citizen-Times:

A phone line has been set up for people who believe they or a member of their family may have been sterilized through the North Carolina Eugenics Program between 1929 and 1974.

More than 7,600 North Carolinians were sterilized, many of them involuntarily, during the 45 years the program was active. The program sought to sterilize people who were classified as “feeble-minded” or “mentally diseased,” as well as those who were poor or black. The law that allowed for involuntary sterilization was not repealed until 2003.

A committee of state legislators is developing a plan for making amends to those who are still living, and will make recommendations for action by the state legislature in the 2009 legislative session. During her campaign, North Carolina governor-elect Beverly Perdue pledged to recognize and assist people who were victims of the involuntary sterilization program.

Earlier posts here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 5:52 pm and is filed under eugenics, history, intellectual/developmental disabilities, law, politics, race, sterilization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.