An Act to Provide Compensation to the Persons Sterilized Through the State's Eugenic Sterilization

Legislation

By: Larry Womble and Earl Jones

Date: July 1, 2005

Source: General Assembly of North Carolina. "An Act to Provide Compensation to the Persons Sterilized Through the State's Eugenic Sterilization." Session 2005. H1607, July 1, 2005.

About the Author: Democratic Representative Larry Womble, representing the Forsyth district in the General Assembly of North Carolina, and Democratic Representative Earl Jones of Guildford cosponsored the Sterilization Compensation bill, the first legislative act on the part of any state in the United States to make reparations for forced sterilization programs dating from the 1920s to the 1970s.

INTRODUCTION

Compulsory sterilization laws were in effect in the United States in thirty-three states from the beginning of the twentieth century through the 1970s. With their roots in the eugenics movement, forced sterilizations and sterilizations performed without informed consent were part of a stated policy to remove the "feeble minded" from the gene pool.

The United States was the first country to use forced sterilization, though Germany and Sweden employed the practice as well. The eugenics movement reached its peak in the 1920s and 1930s. Selective breeding, according to eugenics theory, could produce healthier, more intelligent, and more capable human beings. American proponents of eugenics included Alexander Graham Bell, who studied deafness rates in Massachusetts and concluded that deafness was hereditary; as a result, deaf people ought to be discouraged from marrying and breeding.

In the mid 1800s, homes for the mentally retarded were established by states to house people with mental disabilities. Concerns arose that the sexually active women who lived in these homes would bear children out of wedlock. Within a few decades, eugenics proponents proposed that sterilization would prevent these women from becoming pregnant and bearing children.

In 1869, Francis Dalton's book Hereditary Genius was published. The book's central thesis—rather than being victim to the theory of natural selection, human beings could use artificial and intentional selection to give offspring the best genetic qualities—created the grounds for examining human traits with a goal of increasing those that were outstanding and discarding those that were undesirable. Selective breeding, according to eugenics theory, could elevate human beings and improve intelligence and talent in the population.

Forced sterilizations—tubal ligations and vasectomies performed on people against their will or without their informed consent—typically were done on men and women who were classified as mentally retarded, insane, deaf, blind, or epileptic. Minorities, such as African Americans and Native Americans, were targeted as well. A very small number of convicts were also forcibly sterilized, but that practice was outlawed in 1942.

In 1896, Connecticut enacted the first marriage law based on eugenics, prohibiting mentally retarded and epileptic persons from marrying. By the end of the eugenics movement in the United States, more than thirty states had enacted eugenics-based laws. In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Buck v. Bell case that forced sterilization of the mentally retarded or "feeble minded" was legal for the protection of the state's interests. In 1942, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Skinner v. Oklahoma that compulsory sterilization could not be used as a punishment for crimes committed; Oklahoma sterilized people convicted of crimes that were "felonies involving moral turpitude" as part of a eugenics program to remove certain people from the gene pool.

Hitler's rise to power in Germany, his strident anti-Semitism, and his espousal of eugenics to build a "master race," resulted in the forced sterilization of more than 400,000 Germans. As a result of Hitler's diabolical uses of eugenics, the movement's popularity had declined rapidly by the end of the 1940s. However, forced sterilization laws remained in effect in some states, such as Virginia and North Carolina, into the mid-1970s.

PRIMARY SOURCE

Whereas, during the early part of the 20th century, social reformers advocated eugenic sterilization as a solution to problems such as mental retardation and mental illness; and.

Whereas, in 1907, Indiana was the first state to pass a eugenic sterilization program, and eventually more than 30 states passed these laws, with North Carolina following in 1929; and.

Whereas, from 1933 to 1974, North Carolina's Eugenics Board reviewed petitions for sterilizations, and sterilizations were ordered in more than 90% of the cases before the Board; and.

Whereas, researchers estimate that more than 7,600 people were sterilized in North Carolina between 1929 and 1974, ranking North Carolina third among the states operating eugenic sterilization programs; and.

Whereas, while most states sharply curtailed their sterilization programs after World War II, nearly four-fifths of sterilizations in North Carolina were performed after 1945, and by the late 1960s, more than 60% of those persons sterilized in the State were black and 99% were female; and.

Whereas, the governors of Virginia, Oregon, South Carolina, and North Carolina have issued apologies for these forced sterilizations, and Governor Michael F. Easley established a committee to investigate the eugenics program and consider compensation or counseling services for these persons; and.

Whereas, the General Assembly finds that persons sterilized as a result of the State's eugenics sterilization program should be compensated; Now, therefore,.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:.

SECTION 1.(a) Any person who, as a result of the eugenic sterilization program in this State, was sterilized between the years 1929 and 1975 shall receive compensation as provided for in this section if the person submits a claim before June 30, 2009.

SECTION 1.(b) A claim under this section may be submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services. The claim shall be supported by appropriate verification and information as determined by the Department.

SECTION 1.(c) The Department shall determine the eligibility of a claimant to receive the compensation authorized by this section. The Department shall notify the claimant by mail of its determination regarding the claimant's eligibility.

SECTION 1.(d) The Department shall adopt rules that will assist in the fair determination of eligibility and the processing of claims. The Department, however, shall not be obligated to notify any person of possible eligibility for compensation.

SECTION 1.(e) A claimant under this section who is determined eligible by the Department shall receive twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). All claims which the Department determines are eligible for compensation shall be immediately forwarded to the State Treasurer, who shall issue warrants in the appropriate amounts upon demand and verification of identity. If a claimant dies after filing a claim but before receiving payment, payments shall be made to the claimant's estate upon demand and verification of identity.

SECTION 2. There is established the Eugenic Sterilization Compensation Fund. Funds appropriated to this Fund shall not revert until the claims verified by the Department of Health and Human Services under Section 1 of this act are paid. The Fund shall be kept on deposit with the State Treasurer, as in the case of other State funds, and may be invested by the State Treasurer in any lawful security for the investment of State money. The Fund is subject to the oversight of the State Auditor pursuant to Article 5A of Chapter 147 of the General Statutes.

SECTION 3.(a) The Department of Health and Human Services shall report its estimate of the cost of providing health care, counseling, and educational assistance required as a result of sterilization under the State's eugenic sterilization program, to those persons who are eligible for compensation under this act. The Department shall report the result of its findings to the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division on or before January 1, 2006.

SECTION 3.(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly after receiving cost estimates to provide appropriate health care coverage, counseling, and educational assistance to persons who receive compensation under Section 1 of this act.

SECTION 4. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Treasurer the sum of sixty-nine million one hundred thousand dollars ($69,100,000) for the 2005–2006 fiscal year to fund the Eugenic Sterilization Compensation Fund. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services the sum of one hundred sixty-five thousand dollars ($165,000) for the 2005–2006 fiscal year and the sum of one hundred sixty-five thousand dollars ($165,000) for the 2006–2007 fiscal year to administer Section 1 of this act. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the 2005–2006 fiscal year to implement Section 3 of this act.

SECTION 5. This act becomes effective July 1, 2005.

SIGNIFICANCE

In 2002, the Winston-Salem Journal published a series of articles that examined the North Carolina compulsory sterilization program. As the bill states, "more than 60% of those persons sterilized in the State were black and 99% were female." Slightly fewer than half of the estimated 7,600 people sterilized in North Carolina were still alive as of 2003, and state representatives Larry Wobble and Earl Jones cosponsored legislation to provide compensation.

Canada and Sweden both created extensive compensation funds for victims of forced sterilizations. In Sweden, claimants must prove that they did not provide permission for the sterilization procedure. The North Carolina Sterilization Compensation bill does not require such proof; claimants simply must prove that they were sterilized by the state. In some instances African-American girls as young as ten years of age were sterilized in North Carolina. North Carolina's compensation plan is the first in the country. Only Virginia and California performed more sterilizations than North Carolina.

In 2002, two stories concerning ongoing forced sterilizations became public. In Peru, during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori, a government campaign was instituted in which more than 230,000 peasants were pressured to undergo sterilization between 1996 and 2000, leading to a dramatic rise in Peru's sterilization rates. Fujimori's government offered incentives such as food rations, and those who refused were threatened with fines. In Czechoslovakia, the Roma, or gypsy population, was subjected to forced sterilization during the Communist era. In 2002, news articles revealed that Roma sterilizations persisted long after the 1989 revolution that ended Communist rule. As in Peru, the Roma women were given incorrect information, threatened or intimidated, and given no legal recourse. While revelations that North Carolina's program continued as late as 1974 shocked American readers, the evidence indicates that forced sterilization continues to be used by some governments into the twenty-first century.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Books

Black, Edwin. War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2004.

Bruinius, Harry. Better for All the World: The Secret History of Forced Sterilization and America's Quest for Racial Purity. New York: Knopf, 2006.

Web sites

BBC News. "Mass Sterilization Scandal Shocks Peru." 〈http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2148793.stm〉 (accessed April 29, 2006).

CNN. "Swedish Panel Urges Compensation for Forced Sterilization Victims." 〈http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9901/26/sweden.sterilization/〉 (accessed April 29, 2006).

Eugenics Archive. "The Image Archive on the American Eugenics Movement." 〈http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/〉 (accessed April 29, 2006).

Guardian Unlimited. "Gypsies Fight for Justice Over Forced Sterilization." 〈http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1489524,00.html〉 (accessed April 29, 2006).