Disabled People Are Still Being Forcibly Sterilized—So Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About It?
In the midst of the cone of silence surrounding sterilization, there’s an epicenter: Disabled people with significant impairments who are at the whims of doctors, guardians, and courts when it comes to their reproductive rights. That is slowly starting to change. Earlier this month, a group of Australian disability rights activists demanded an investigation from the United Nations into why at least 47 disabled Australians were forcibly sterilized by court order between 2004 and 2014. Reproductive rights activists worldwide should take a lesson here: In a landscape where everyone should have the ability to take personal control of her own fertility, they must acknowledge and confront the historical and continuing sterilizations of disabled people. In the process, advocates must take an intersectional approach to address concerns about other vulnerable groups also targeted for sterilization.
The UN considers forcible sterilization to be a form of torture, pointing to a growing body of public opinion and legal cases. The UN’s report on the issue, released in February 2013, specifically noted that disabled people are often targeted for sterilization and articulated why forced sterilization is so damaging to reproductive and personal freedoms:
…
In numerous states, laws regarding sterilization for reasons of disability still remain on the books. These policies are not simply holdovers from a previous era, however. In 1993, a mentally ill patient was sterilized by court order, with a later court upholding the judgment on appeal. Five years later, a Michigan court approved a request for sterilization in the case of Lora Faye Wirsing, who had developmental disabilities, at the request of her guardian. And the horrific “Ashley Treatment” got a pass from a bioethics committee in 2007. In that treatment, surgeons removed a girl’s uterus and breast buds, while she was put on growth-stunting medications to keep her small, on the grounds that she would pose a “hardship” to her family as she matured. That procedure has been used on multiple children in the subsequent years.
More: Disabled People Are Still Being Forcibly Sterilized—So Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About It?