On the 22nd, the Osaka High Court handed down the judgment of two trials in which a woman and a couple living in Kansai, who were forced to undergo sterilization under the former Yusei Protection Law, are seeking compensation from the government. ..
This is the first time that the two courts have decided in a series of trials that have been filed in various places, and it will be watched whether the national liability is recognized.
A couple in their 70s who live in Kansai and have intellectual disabilities due to the aftereffects of illness, and a husband and wife in their 80s and wives who are deaf, forced infertility surgery based on the former Yusei Protection Law in the 1965s. He has filed a lawsuit seeking compensation from the state for being deprived of his right to give birth and raise children.
In November, the Osaka District Court of the first instance found that the former Yusei Protection Law was unconstitutional, but based on the fact that the plaintiff filed a complaint 20 years after undergoing sterilization, he said, "I have already claimed compensation. The plaintiffs appealed because they dismissed the complaint, saying, "The right to do it has disappeared."
Even in the second trial, the issue is whether or not the period for claiming compensation has passed, and the judgment of the Osaka High Court will be handed down from 2:30 pm.
Six similar trials have been filed nationwide so far, and there have been judgments that the former Eugenics Protection Law is unconstitutional, but all of them have been dismissed due to the passage of time. I am.
This is the first time that the two courts have decided, and it will be noticed whether the government will accept liability for damages.
Plaintiff's couple "I want the court to recognize the responsibility of the country"
The husband and wife in their 80s and their wife in their 70s, who live in the hearing-impaired Osaka prefecture of the plaintiff, got married in their 20s, and three years later, in 1973, the wife became pregnant, but gave birth by Caesarean section. The child died shortly afterwards, and the wife was said to have been sterilized without her consent.
She said, "If I had children, I might have been able to go out with them when I grew up, or see them grow up and get married. Sometimes I'm jealous and tears come out." Was talking.
Before the ruling on the 22nd, the couple understood to the court that it was wrong for the country to enact a law that could force sterilization because of disability, even though they wanted children like themselves. I want them to acknowledge the responsibility of the country.
Three years ago, a remedy was created that included a flat rate of 3.2 million yen as an apology and a lump sum, and the target audience is about 25,000.
However, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of applications is only 1138 as of the 6th of this month.
Regarding this, my husband said, "Many people do not apply because they do not want to tell people that they have undergone surgery. Considering the mental distress of applying, it is not a matter of money, but at 3.2 million yen It's not a story to be done. "