>
>Below is California Governor Gray Davis's official apology for California's
>history of sterilizing people with disabilities. I guess after the
>disability community flexed its muscles in the Hason case, he realized
>there was nothing "substandard" about us!
>
>In issuing this apology, California joins a handful of other states that
>have done this.
>
>A Feb. 16, 2003, op-ed article in the Los Angeles Times by  Peter Irons of
>UC San Diego had urged the state to "make amends for one of the most
>horrific and shameful episodes in the state's history."  We need to thank
>the Governor for the apology, but we also need to remind him and the
>Legislature that an apology isn't enough if they plan to tear down the
>support system we need to live a good life.  They need to quite literally
>put the state's money where its mouth is by rejecting draconian cuts to
>programs like Medi-Cal and IHSS and by actively protecting the civil rights
>of all people with disabilities.
>
>--Laura
>
>============ GOVERNOR'S APOLOGY ============
>
>  PR03:075
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>03/11/2003
>
>GOVERNOR DAVIS MAKES STATEMENT ON EUGENICS 3/11/2003
>
>SACRAMENTO
>
>Governor Gray Davis today issued the following statement regarding the
>issue of forced sterilization in California - the idea that people could
>breed a better human race by removing "substandard" humans from the gene
pool:
>
>"To the victims and their families of this past injustice, the people of
>California are deeply sorry for the suffering you endured over the years.
>Our hearts are heavy for the pain caused by eugenics. It was a sad and
>regrettable chapter in the state's history, and it is one that must never
>be repeated again."
>
>California enacted a eugenics law in 1909, resulting in the involuntary
>sterilization of approximately 19,000 "undesirable" Californians.
>
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>|  0    People with disabilities: A resource to recognize,   |
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