From the Winston-Salem [NC] Journal:

Proposed legislation that would give reparations to people who were sterilized under a state-sponsored eugenics program in North Carolina seemed in jeopardy as the state legislature prepared to begin its annual session.

With priorities focused on budget woes in a troubled economy, legislators said they were reluctant to commit $18 million of the state budget this year toward giving $20,000 to each of the 2,800 victims of the forced sterilization program.

House speaker Joe Hackney said “I thought the recommendations were reasonable, thoughtful. And I hope we can do it … I don’t know whether we can do the entire financial part in a year like this or not.”

See also:

Help for the victims -Winston-Salem Journal editorial. An excerpt:

At the very least, the legislature should finally follow through on recommendations that [former Gov. Mike] Easley approved five years ago. That means giving the victims treatment for the mental and physical ills left by their sterilizations, putting the story of this program in public-school textbooks and setting up a monument to the victims — so that the terrible mistakes of this program will never be repeated.

… This issue has been studied ad nauseam. Victims have told their stories over and over to legislators, reliving the pain each time. The General Assembly should finally help these victims when it convenes next month.

Se earlier posts here, here, here, and here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 at 9:08 am and is filed under eugenics, law, 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.