Just 50 years ago, people were forcibly sterilized in the United States in an attempt to create a 'pure race': now victims are paid compensation

California is ready to approve reparations of $ 25 to some of the thousands of people spayed decades ago because the government deemed them unfit for childbirth. Some of the victims were only 000 years old. The publication told about this in more detail. New York Post.

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The payments will make California the third state after Virginia and North Carolina to compensate victims of the so-called eugenic movement, which peaked in the 1930s. Proponents of the movement believed that sterilizing people with mental illness, physical disabilities and other qualities that they considered undesirable would improve the human race.

Since then, California has sterilized more than 20 people before the law was repealed in 000, but only a few hundred are now alive. The state has allocated $ 1979 million for the compensation program.

Where did the eugenic movement come from?

The Eugenics movement arose in the United States in the second half of the XNUMXth century, when more and more scientists, doctors and politicians began to appear in the country, who firmly believed that the spread of "defective" genes should be stopped. They believed that because of "abnormal" people, society could degenerate, writes Lenta.Ru.

Initially, it was exclusively about restrictive measures that were to be applied to the "inferior" members of society. Typically, these measures fell into two main categories: prohibition of marriage and imprisonment. The purpose of this was to isolate the "inferior" from the rest of society and deprive them of the opportunity to leave offspring.

In many states, special establishments were created for unwanted elements. People with mental, less often physical, defects were placed there. However, the definitions of dementia and other deviations were so vague that they also included those who were distinguished by simply extravagant habits. It was possible to leave the institution only after consent to sterilization. Patients of these institutions were especially actively subjected to similar operations with the onset of the Great Depression in 1929: a sharp decline in the financial capabilities of the state coincided with an increase in the number of patients.

Mandatory sterilization program at the legislative level

The first state where sterilization received legal basis was Indiana: the corresponding act was passed in 1907. Moreover, some researchers argue that this law was the first of its kind in the whole world.

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The law targeted idiots, imbeciles, and repeat offenders. In 1927, the wording was somewhat changed: now this normative act only applied to the mad, the weak-minded and epileptics. State sterilization was applied to these groups until about 1974. During this time, in Indiana alone, about 2,5 thousand people were sterilized.

The law has been passed in more than 30 states. Their targets were generally the same population groups, which can be divided into 2 categories. The first is crazy, feeble-minded, epileptics, imbeciles, idiots. And the second included citizens recognized as socially unreliable, while their deviant behavior was considered the result of bad heredity. This group included homosexuals and women who were considered promiscuous when choosing sexual partners, as well as the poor, who sometimes included representatives of racial minorities.

Most often, women were sterilized, mainly blacks and Hispanics. By sterilizing them, in addition to eugenic goals, the authorities also pursued financial interests - they reduced the base of potential applicants for social benefits. A similar policy was pursued with respect to the Native American population. Men could be sterilized even for violent behavior.

Canceling sterilization

The widespread practice of sterilizing people "not suitable" for childbirth lasted until about the mid-1960s, when protests began against eugenics.

However, in some states, its supporters continued to maintain influence afterwards. So, in Montana, operations were done until 1972, in North Carolina and Indiana - until 1973 and 1974, and in Virginia and Oregon - until 1979 and 1983, respectively.

The largest number of operations was performed in California: in 1909-1964, more than 20 thousand people lost the opportunity to have children there. Unlike most other states with eugenic laws, the California Act did not provide for a mechanism to challenge medical board decisions.

According to Paul Lombardo, a law professor at Georgia State University and an expert on the eugenic movement, California law was so visible that it inspired the same in Nazi Germany.

In addition, according to some reports, on the basis of a request from the guardians, people who were not considered "abnormal" could also be sterilized there.

In total, about 1963 thousand people in the United States were affected by surgery, which was justified by eugenics. And from the late 64s to the 1960s, it is estimated that at least 1970 procedures were performed.

Ultimately, the practice of forced sterilization in order to shield society from "harmful" genes was widely recognized as unethical, and the authorities of several states have already apologized to the victims. As for the operations, they are carried out now, but the reason for the surgical intervention can only be the requests of the patients themselves or medical indications.

California continued to sterilize after the repeal of the law

A 2013 audit by the Center for Investigative Journalism found that from 2005 to 2005, California sterilized 144 women, and there were several cases in 2010. At the same time, there is practically no evidence that officials consulted women or offered alternative treatment.

Although all women signed consent forms, officials in 39 cases did not do everything that was required by law to obtain their permission.

State law passed in 2014 prohibits sterilization for birth control purposes in prisons. It permits sterilization that is “medically necessary,” such as removal of a cancerous tumor, and requires agencies to report annually how many people have been sterilized and for what reason.

Sterilization in California prisons dates back to 1999, when the state, for unknown reasons, changed its policy to include a sterilization procedure known as tubal ligation as a health care service for inmates. Over the next decade, women reported being coerced into the procedure, and some did not fully understand the consequences.

According to a study by the Sterilization and Social Justice Laboratory, only a few hundred of the people sterilized in California under the old eugenics law survived. According to lawyers, including prisoners who were sterilized recently, more than 600 people will be entitled to compensation.

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But finding them will be difficult, as lawyers predict that only about 25% of eligible people will eventually seek compensation and receive money.

The California Victim Compensation Board will run the program, with $ 2 million used to find victims through advertisements and document review. The state, among other things, allocated $ 1 million for memorial plaques in honor of the victims, leaving 4,5 million for damages.

Forced sterilization at age 13

In California, one of the victims was Mary Franco, who was sterilized in 1934 when she was only 13 years old. She was described in documents as "imbecile" due to "sexual deviations," according to her niece Stacey Cordova, who investigated her case.

She said that in fact at that time a neighbor was molesting the girl. Relatives were forced to place Franco in an orphanage to protect the family's reputation.

The niece says that her late aunt loved children and wanted to start a family. The aunt got married when she was about 17 years old, but the marriage was soon annulled when her husband found out that Franco could not have children. According to her niece, the unfortunate had a chance to while away the years alone among the Mexican culture, where large families are revered.

“I don't know if that's fair. Money doesn't pay for what happened to them. But it's good to know they admitted they made a mistake, said Cordova, who advocates for the state to pay benefits to survivors. “For me, it’s not about the money, it’s about the memory.”

Relatives like Cordoba are not eligible for payments, only direct victims.

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