Materials for Policymakers

SB 1190 Eugenics Sterilization Compensation Program Status

As of August 16, 2018, SB 1190 was held in suspense at the Assembly Appropriations Committee. It is stalled and will not pass this year. We hope to revisit this bill with renewed enthusiasm and a new author and sponsor in 2019. California's Legislative Information website contains more information on the bill and its progress at this link: SB1190. You can also read the full motion here.

This bill would provide compensation to surviving individuals who were involuntary sterilized under to California's eugenics laws. The LA County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution both to support the bill and to issue an apology to the women who were involuntarily sterilized in Los Angeles County and USC Medical Center 1968–1974, which includes the installation of a plaque on the campus. With SB 1190, California will become the third state in the nation to compensate survivors of eugenic sterilization laws, following North Carolina (2013) and Virginia (2015).

Even though SB 1190 did not pass, one of the indirect results of the advocacy around the bill was that the LA County Board of Supervisors issued a formal apologies to the more than 200 women who were sterilized and they will also put a plaque commemorating this harm.