Public Health Law Map - Beta 5 - Medical and Public Health Law Site

funded services to coerce a person into agreeing to be sterilized, he or she commits a
federal crime and is subject to imprisonment. The problem is that the courts tend to
assume that coercion is involved whenever a minor or incompetent is sterilized.
When a sterilization is otherwise medically and ethically indicated, [ACOG
Committee Opinion 63. Sterilization of Women Who Are Mentally Handicapped.
September 1988] the medical care practitioner should seek a court order approving
the procedure. Under no circumstances should a minor be sterilized without the
approval of the appropriate court in the state where the procedure is to take place.
4. Federal Law Requirements
Congress has passed specific, detailed laws governing consent to sterilizations
performed under federal programs. With one exception, these laws are also a useful
guide to the information that must be provided to all patients considering a
sterilization procedure. The exception is that the federal law requires a 30-day
waiting period between signing the consent to sterilization and the actual procedure.
There is a waiver provision in cases of emergency abdominal surgery and premature
delivery (as long as the form was signed more than 30 days before the estimated date
of delivery), but these waivers require at least a 72-hour delay.
The waiting period and other federally mandated requirements must be followed by
all medical care practitioners who deliver services in “programs or projects for health
services which are supported in whole or in part by Federal financial assistance,
whether by grant or contract, administered by the Public Health Service.” These
health care practitioners must use the statutorily approved consent form and patient
information brochures mandated in the federal law. These materials are available
from the U.S. Public Health Service. The following is the summary of the information
that must be provided and the structure of the consent form:
a) Informed Consent
Informed consent does not exist unless a consent form is completed voluntarily and
in accordance with all the requirements of this [law].
A person who obtains informed consent for a sterilization procedure must offer to
answer any questions the individual to be sterilized may have concerning the
procedure, provide a copy of the consent form, and provide orally all of the
following information or advice to the individual who is to be sterilized:
Advice that the individual is free to withhold or withdraw consent to the
procedure any time before the sterilization without affecting his or her right
to future care or treatment and without loss or withdrawal of any federally
funded program benefits to which the individual might be otherwise
entitled;
A description of available alternative methods of family planning and birth
control;
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