The Governor’s Eugenics Compensation Task Force is recommending people who were sterilized by the state over 40 years ago should be paid $50,000 each. The former State Eugenics Board ordered many people sterilized in the 1960’s and early 70’s because it found them unfit to raise children. The Chair of the Task Force, Dr. Laura Gerald, said it would be a reasonable compensation.
The General Assembly will have to approve the compensation amount. It is estimated there could be 1,500 to 2,900 survivors of the Eugenics Board’s decisions but only 72 have been verified. The Task Force wants to give people three years after the legislature’s approval to come forward and apply.
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