Reparations bill for sterilization victims nearing Diet approval | The Asahi Shimbun Asia & Japan Watch

A long sought-after bill to provide compensation to people with disabilities who were forcibly sterilized under the former Eugenic Protection Law passed unanimously in the Lower House on Oct. 7. Following the plenary session, the bill is expected to be passed at the Upper House and be enacted on Oct. 8. The bill was compiled by a cross-party group of Diet members in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in July that the former law was unconstitutional. The Lower House on Oct. 7 also passed a resolution to formally apologize to the victims and rectify the damage they were subject to. The purpose of the former law, which was enacted in 1948 and remained in effect until 1996, was to “prevent the birth of defective offspring.” It is estimated that about 25,000 sterilization operations and 59,000 abortions were performed under the now-defunct law. Since 2018, there have been a series of lawsuits seeking damages from the central government. In 2019, the lump-sum payment law was passed by legislators to provide a flat sum of 3.2 million yen ($21,630) to victims of forced sterilization. However, it was not based on the assumption that the former law was unconstitutional and that the...