Last week a High Court judge sanctioned the sterilisation of a man with learning difficulties, ruling that, if his girlfriend got pregnant again, it could cause him psychological damage.
This is the first time that such a decision has been made in the courts, as the last time a forced sterilisation case was brought, in 1999, the judge turned the application down.
Although there have been cases before of women ordered by the courts to undergo sterilisation, it has never been ruled so for a man, making this judgement such a landmark decision.
The man, named only as DE, already has a son by his girlfriend, who also has a learning disability, and made it clear to his parents that he does not want more children.
However, while he is deemed capable of sexual consent, experts believe that he does not have the mental capacity to make informed decisions about contraception, or indeed whether or not to have a vasectomy.
Paying heed to the “enduring relationship” between the couple, in her ruling, Mrs Justice King said that the birth of the couple’s first child had had a “profound” effect on both families, and that measures were taken to ensure there was no further pregnancy, including keeping the couple apart and supervising any contact between them. She added that their relationship “nearly broke under the strain, but remarkably weathered the storm”.
While no-one, from DE’s social worker to his GP, objected to the application, which was brought by his parents, learning disability groups have warned that the country must not return to the “routine” sterilisation of people with learning disabilities, as was seen in the past.
However, this is highly unlikely, as this case was very unusual and was treated with great sympathy and compassion by the courts.