California will compensate survivors of its forced sterilization program

CNN, July 14, 2021: California will compensate survivors of its forced sterilization program

“California will pay $7.5 million to surviving victims of its forced sterilization program. Eugenics, or the practice of sterilizing those determined by the state to be ‘feeble’ or ‘undesirable,’ began under a law enacted in California around the turn of the 20th century. An estimated 20,000 residents deemed ‘unfit to reproduce’ are believed to have been sterilized in this practice, according to Unai Montes-Irueste, a spokesman for Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, who penned the new legislation.”

Additional reading:

Belly of the Beast, dir. Erika Cohn, 2020