Who: Victims of Eugenics Sterilization
What: Compensation of $25,000 to the surviving victims
When: March 20, 1924 to the Present (Article posted February 27, 2015)
Where: Virginia
Why it Matters: This compensation matters because of the 30 US states that originally passed eugenics laws, Virginia is the second state to compensate the victims. It is inhumane to forbid anyone from having a family. It goes against their civil rights, and while a consent from the victims was necessary to perform the operation, many of the victims weren't given all of the details and precautions of the procedure. Of over 7,000 victims of the eugenics sterilization in Virginia between 1924 and 1979, there are only 11 known survivors still alive. How it doesn't make up for the decades of harm the government imposed on its citizens, this compensation does give victims and supporters a sense of healing and forgiveness.
Link to Original Article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-general-assembly-agrees-to-compensate-eugenics-victims/2015/02/27/b2b7b0ec-be9e-11e4-bdfa-b8e8f594e6ee_story.html
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