UK Judge Rules Mother of 6 with Learning Disability Can Be Sterilized Against Her Will

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Feb 05, 2015

UK Judge Rules Mother of 6 with Learning Disability Can Be Sterilized Against Her Will

A UK court has decided that a mother of six with a learning disability can be taken to a hospital and sterilized against her will. According to Life News, the woman who has not been identified, would put her health at risk if she became pregnant again and health workers have had difficulty convincing the woman to use contraception. 

Justice Stephen Cobb gave the ruling that the department of health and social services could enter the woman’s home and take her to get a “therapeutic sterilization.” 

According to Cobb, the woman could not make her own decisions regarding the use of contraception. 

Cobb’s order gave health workers the authority to “remove (the woman) from her home and take steps to convey her to hospital for the purposes of the sterilisation procedure.”

If the woman resisted, the health workers could use “necessary and proportionate steps” including “forced entry and necessary restraint.” 

Many have been critical of the decision, arguing that the procedure would violate the woman’s human rights. 

Publication date: February 5, 2015



UK Judge Rules Mother of 6 with Learning Disability Can Be Sterilized Against Her Will