Policy Fellow Nicole Novak
Dr. Nicole Novak’s policy fellowship will support her efforts to raise awareness of the history of coerced sterilization in Iowa and understand community attitudes toward policies that acknowledge survivors and families impacted by the state’s eugenics program, which existed into the 1970s.
Novak’s earlier research identified 1,782 Iowans who were sterilized under the program between 1929, when the state formed the Iowa Board of Eugenics, and 1977, when the board was finally disbanded. As many as 206 survivors of the sterilization program may be alive today, according to her estimates.
Iowa’s initial eugenic sterilization law, passed in 1911, was part of a wave of similar laws in 32 states nationwide grounded in the then-reputable science of eugenics, which held that forcibly preventing the reproduction of “defectives” — defined in Iowa’s law as “habitual criminals, idiots, feeble-minded, and imbeciles” — was necessary to foster a healthy population. Over time, the criteria for sterilization expanded to include “feeble-minded, insane, syphilitic, habitual criminals, moral degenerates, or sexual perverts and who are a menace to society” and those whose offspring were considered likely to become “a social menace or ward of the state.”
The policy fellowship will support Novak’s engagement with various stakeholders, including state legislators, state agencies, and community organizations with connections to groups that may have been impacted by Iowa’s eugenics legacy. As part of the project, Novak aims to develop a research brief summarizing stakeholder perspectives and possible policy responses.
Previously, Novak has been part of research and public engagement projects focused on eugenics programs in other states, such as California and Utah, where the work has prompted policy actions, including state apologies and compensation programs. In California, a coalition of advocates used the research to successfully advocate for a state compensation program for living sterilization survivors, as well as funding for historical markers noting the state’s history of eugenics. In Utah, the publication of similar research prompted a state apology.
“There are many ways to acknowledge past — and enduring — harms from policies like Iowa’s eugenic sterilization law,” Novak says. “The most important thing is to hear from survivors and others who are closest to these issues and their enduring impacts. I look forward to listening to Iowans who care about this history and learning what approaches to redress resonate with people.”