NC offers $10M for victims of forced-sterilization program

RALEIGH, N.C. – A budget adopted by North Carolina lawmakers includes $10 million to compensate victims of the state's now-defunct forced-sterilization program.

The money was included in a spending plan passed Wednesday. It sets aside money for one-time payments to victims, but the final amount paid to each individual will depend on how many come forward.

North Carolina sterilized about 7,600 people whom the state deemed feeble-minded or otherwise undesirable between 1929 and 1974. Some of the victims were as young as 10 and chosen because they were promiscuous or did not get along with their schoolmates.

N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation estimated last year that as many as 1,800 victims may still be alive. However, only 168 living victims had then come forward to have their identities verified against state records.