JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Voluntary Sterilisation Act: Best Interests, Caregivers, and Disability Rights.

  • Published In: Medical Law Review, 2023, v. 31, n. 2. P. 205 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Chua, Hillary 3 of 3

Abstract

This article examines how caregivers' interests can be balanced with disability rights in decisions about sterilising intellectually disabled persons in Singapore, a country with a history of eugenics and a communitarian socio-political framework. It reviews Singapore’s legal regime under the Voluntary Sterilisation Act 1974 (amended in 2012) and the Mental Capacity Act 2008, highlighting the requirement for court authorization of sterilisation on mentally incapacitated persons based on best interests, with consideration of the person’s wishes and feelings. The article compares Singapore’s approach with laws in Canada, England and Wales, and Australia, noting differences in the treatment of therapeutic versus non-therapeutic sterilisation and the role of caregivers’ interests. It proposes a decisional framework that presumptively upholds the rights to bodily integrity and fertility under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), while accommodating caregivers’ interests through a relational, “relationship-based welfare” perspective consistent with Singapore’s communitarian values.

Additional Information

  • Source:Medical Law Review. 2023/04, Vol. 31, Issue 2, p205
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Law
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0967-0742
  • DOI:10.1093/medlaw/fwac036
  • Accession Number:163927039
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