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www.disabilityrightsca.org
May 1, 2019
Honorable Loren Gonzalez
Chair, Appropriations Committee
California State Assembly
Capitol Building, Room 2114
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 1764 (Carrillo) as amended April 22, 2019 – SUPPORT
Dear Assembly Member Gonzalez:
Disability Rights California (DRC), a non-profit advocacy organization that advances and protects the rights of Californians with disabilities, supports AB 1764. This bill is scheduled for hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 1, 2019.
This bill would establish the Forced Sterilization Compensation Program, for the purpose of providing victim compensation to any survivor of state sponsored sterilization conducted pursuant to eugenics laws that existed in the State of California between 1909 and 1979. It would require an outreach effort to locate any qualified recipient and permit him or her to apply for victim compensation.
This bill will be the first effort to provide redress to people involuntarily sterilized under state eugenics laws. While the state acknowledged this historical wrong in 2003, through Governor Davis’ and Attorney General Lockyer’s apologies and a Senate resolution, this bill will provide a material acknowledgement of this injustice by compensating sterilization survivors.
With AB 1764, California will become the third state in the nation to compensate survivors of coerced sterilizations under state eugenics laws, following North Carolina (2013) and Virginia (2015). Given California’s history as the state that sterilized the largest number of people under such laws (20,000 of 60,000 people nationally), enacting this bill is a vital acknowledgement of the harm inflicted on a large population.
We believe this bill plays an important role in advancing disability justice and reproductive justice. It recognizes the human right of each individual to control their reproductive capacity without state or other interference. It affirms that all people should be treated with respect and dignity regarding their lives and reproduction, including those who have historically been disenfranchised: people with disabilities, women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and poor people.
For these reasons, DRC supports this bill. Please contact me if you have any questions about our position or if I can provide any further information.
Very truly yours,
Curtis Child
Legislative Director
Disability Rights California
cc:	Honorable Members, Assembly Appropriations Committee
Kimberly Horiuchi, Principal Consultant, Assembly Appropriations Committee
Honorable Wendy Carrillo, California State Assembly
Jessica Zaragoza, Legislative Director, Office of Assembly Member Carrillo
Gary Olson, Consultant, Assembly Republican Caucus Committee