The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 18 : Health

Chapter 204 : Sterilization

• § 8706. Voluntary sterilization

  Any person with an intellectual disability over the age of 18, who does not have a guardian with the power to consent to nonemergency surgery, may obtain a voluntary sterilization subject to all of the following preconditions:

  (1) the person with an intellectual disability has freely, voluntarily, and without coercion personally requested a physician to perform a sterilization;

  (2) the person with an intellectual disability has given informed consent to the sterilization in that:

  (A) the physician has provided a complete explanation concerning:

  (i) the nature and irreversible consequences of a sterilization procedure; and

  (ii) the availability of alternative contraceptive measures;

  (B) the physician is satisfied that the consent is based upon an understanding of that information and that before the operation is undertaken the physician personally obtains evidence of the person’s retention of that understanding, not less than 10 days following the original explanation;

  (C) the consent is in writing and signed by the person with an intellectual disability;

  (3) the person with an intellectual disability has been informed and is aware that his or her consent may be withdrawn at any time prior to the operation; and

  (4) the physician has reviewed medical records and psychological assessments of the person with an intellectual disability. (Added 1981, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 111.)