Colorado lawmakers pass bill to ban forced sterilization of people with disabilities

Colorado lawmakers in both the House and Senate have passed a bill to ban the forced sterilization of people with disabilities in the state.

Key Takeaways:

• Colorado House Bill 26-1040 would repeal the state law allowing people with intellectual or developmental disabilities to be forcibly sterilized.

• Disability rights advocates say it is the first step towards ending the eugenics era.

• Over 30 states currently allow the forced sterilization of people with disabilities.

The Details:

House Bill 26-1040 passed three readings in the Senate before clearing the House of Representatives, and has now been sent to Governor Jared Polis to be signed into law. The bill has received unanimous support across party lines.

Disability rights groups told KKCO the move is long overdue. “It means that Colorado does really care and has taken the stance to say that people, individuals with disabilities, do deserve the rights,” Mary Kirkham of the Arc of Colorado said, adding, “If people with disabilities are not able to make the decision, it then creates fear and unknown. It’s even the point of, like, if you don’t communicate what people might tell atypical, like, if you’re non-verbal, or if you don’t present maybe the way people think you do, or they don’t listen.”

“We’re finally, not only in practice, but also in law, taking that next step to close the door on the eugenics era for people with disabilities,” Jack Johnson, a public policy liaison with Disability Law Colorado, said.

Both pointed out this is just the first step to much-needed reform to provide better support and awareness to other disability rights issues, and said their groups will continue to advocate for things like educational rights, their rights to housing and employment, and more.

Why It Matters:

While it is often seen as an injustice from the past, forced sterilization still occurs, both in the United States and around the world.

People with disabilities can still be forcibly sterilized in a majority of states, with some — as a recent report on sickle cell disease found, for example — being pressured or coerced into sterilization, or being sterilized without their knowledge or consent.

The sterilization is typically framed as being in the "best interest" of the disabled person, even when it is not medically necessary, and can frequently occur at the parents' behest.

One example is that of Kristin Smith, a woman with Down syndrome from Iceland, who lived a normal life. Yet Smith's mother was able to force her into a tubal ligation she did not want. In the United States, a girl named Ashley X was given a hysterectomy at just six years old solely because she has developmental disabilities.

In other countries, like Australia, people with disabilities are still being forcibly sterilized as well. And while it is not a disabilities issue, prison inmates in states like California and Tennessee have been sterilized in recent years, often without the women’s knowledge or consent beforehand, born out of the same eugenic mindset as that which allows the forced sterilization of people with disabilities: that those considered "undesirable" should not be allowed to "breed."

Zoom Out:

Though recognizing the rights of persons with disabilities is a huge step in the right direction, it is beyond unfortunate that Colorado fails to protect those same persons when they are diagnosed in the womb with a disability.

Instead, Colorado abortion law allows preborn human beings — with or without disabilities — to be killed at any time in gestation, and for any reason. The pro-abortion former Planned Parenthood research arm, the Guttmacher Institute, lists the state as "most protective" when it comes to abortion.

The first right upon which all other rights depend is the right to life. No person who is robbed of this inherent human right has the ability to exercise any other human right.

The Bottom Line:

Forced sterilization is not just a past injustice, but one which continues to occur today. That Colorado is taking action to rectify this wrong is a step forward, but there are still 30 more states which allow such atrocities to continue to happen.