A Japanese court on Tuesday ruled as unconstitutional the now-defunct eugenics protection law that authorized the government to stop people with disabilities from having children, but rejected a claim for damages sought by five people.
However, the ruling said, “The possibility that she had the abortion due to economic reasons cannot be ruled out,” and stated it cannot be recognized that she was forced to have the surgery in accordance with the law. With regard to forced sterilization, the court said, “There is not enough evidence, such as a doctor’s opinion and photographs of surgery scars, to recognize that she underwent the surgery.”
Along with the Sendai and Osaka courts, the Sapporo district court also rejected the plaintiffs’ demand for compensation, citing the statute of limitations that expired 20 years after the surgery.
In a lawsuit filed against the Japanese government by a married couple and a woman who were sterilized under the now-defunct eugenics protection law (1948-1996), the judge ruled the law unconstitutional but dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims for a total of 5.5 million yen (approx. $53,000) in damages on Nov 30th
The problem is that the text of the bill requires consideration for children born via assisted reproductive technology to be born in good physical and mental health. It advocates “preventing the birth of bad offspring” and states that there is a problem that leads to the old eugenic protection law that forced people with disabilities to undergo sterilization.
Three people, a married couple in their 70s in Osaka Prefecture who have hearing impairments, and a woman (77) in the Kinki region who has intellectual disabilities, were allegedly forced to undergo sterilization surgery under the former Eugenic Protection Law.
On June 30, the Tokyo District Court rejected the claim of a a man in his 70s demanding compensation for being forced to undergo sterilization under the now defunct Eugenic Protection Law. The Tokyo District Court ruled that “the right to claim damages has already disappeared,”
The Japanese Medical Science Federation is set to admit the responsibility of medical scientists and academic associations over forced sterilization surgeries that were carried out in Japan based on the now-defunct eugenics protection law (1948-1996), and is poised to apologize to victims, it has been learned.
The former eugenics protection law was enacted unanimously by legislators. For this reason, the victims of forced infertility have requested that the legislative body that created the law be responsible for verifying it. Although the victims are aging, it is expected that it will take about three years because of the wide scope of the survey.
‘Junko Iizuka’, said she “has been feeling down” since the ruling. She divorced for not being able to have a child, and such sorrow triggered mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. For Iizuka, who has repeatedly thought of killing herself due to the treatment, it’s baffling why the government is not held accountable.
