Government ‘sorry on behalf of society’ for ‘appalling’ treatment of unmarried mothers

Government says a formal apology was not appropriate ‘since the state did not actively support these practices’ between 1949 and 1976.

File image: A ommittee argued that government ‘bears ultimate responsibility for the pain and suffering’ of unmarried mothers (PA)

A lack of formal government apology to unmarried mothers who faced “appalling treatment” in decades past, including unwanted adoptions, has been labelled “disappointing”.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) had called on the government to issue an apology to women who had their babies taken from them for adoption between 1949 and 1976.

The committee, in a report published in July, argued that the government “bears ultimate responsibility for the pain and suffering caused by public institutions and state employees that railroaded mothers into unwanted adoptions”.