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In light of the recent Virginia budget announcements, a little known omission to the original budget should be acknowledged. Virginia House Bill 1529: Justice for The Victims of Sterilization would have created a fund for reparations to Virginia residents physically mutilated at the hand of state funded institutions.
Under The Virginia Sterilization Act, more than 7,000 Virginians involuntarily sterilized from 1924-79, though only 10 to date have had the courage to come forward. These innocents were chosen by our state government to suffer because they were poor, physically impaired, uneducated or deemed feeble-minded. They were labeled as such, indicating they were unfit to “breed.”
The General Assembly removed the proposed appropriation from the budget altogether, and in doing so has passed over these now senior citizens who must feel as though they are still of no importance to our state government that once upon a time took drastic measures to end their very bloodlines.
Mark Bold, executive director of the Christian Law Institute, has been advocating for eugenics victims. I am advocating for my cousin, who lives in...