A House of Delegates subcommittee yesterday rejected a bill that would have approved sterilization benefits. Childless victims seeking compensations from the state received little promise from lawmakers regarding their cases against Virginia’s now-discredited eugenics program. According to media outlets, at least four delegates on the eight-member subcommittee held out hope some form of compensation can be made available this year, but they made no guarantees. About 7,000 people in Virginia, who were deemed feeble or mentally disabled, were sterilized during the 1920s through 1950s. Many at the Central Virginia Training Center–The state formally ended that program in 1979.
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