On May 26, the President of Chile Gabriel Boric publicly apologized to Francisca, a Chilean woman with HIV who was sterilized without her consent in 2002 while giving birth. Soon after becoming pregnant, Francisca had tested positive for HIV, then prompting her to take antiretroviral treatment in hopes of not transmitting the virus to her baby. She was unknowingly sterilized while under anesthesia for a Cesarean section, even though she never requested or consented to it, either in writing or verbally, as mandated by law since 2000. After a decade of legal battles against the state of Chile, in August 2021, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Chilean HIV/AIDS service group Vivo Positivo won big, for “the government of Chile agreed to end forced sterilization, provide Francisca with reparations, and reform its policies to address discrimination against people living with HIV,” as described by the Center. Furthermore, this victory sits as a model of one’s sacred right to health, personal liberty and security and life without gender-based violence.
Read the complete report in the Center for Reproductive Rights’ news page within the Latin American & Caribbean Program entitled, President of Chile Issues Public Apology to Woman who was Sterilized Without Her Consent in Landmark Case at the IACHR (May 27, 2022).
I also recommend reading the excerpt below from a Center for Reproductive Rights hearing before the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Sept. 17, 2012 in order to better understand the deep-rooted history of legal struggles against the Chilean government as rights-groups aimed to expand the agency of Chileans living with HIV/AIDS who chose to have children. Within the letter they wrote to the UN Committee, it is evident that the Center was trying to rally international support against Chile’s draconian sterilization policies and demand the country move towards a system of consent.
Recognizing that its international legal obligations required informed consent, Chile revised its law governing sterilization in 2000. The new law states that “[t]he decision to undergo sterilization is personal” and mandates that it should be provided through written consent as well as that health care providers offer counseling on alternative forms of contraception, the irreversible nature of sterilization and the potential risks involved before obtaining a patient’s written informed consent for the procedure. Voluntary, informed consent must be obtained in writing prior to the sterilization. Despite the revision of the law, forced and coerced sterilization of women living with HIV/AIDS continue to occur in Chile.
Prior to 2000, the law governing surgical sterilization codified medical practitioners’ ability to make decisions on their patients’ behalf in “serious cases,” in addition to restricting surgical sterilization to specific medical issues and requiring spousal consent. Although HIV/AIDS was not explicitly included among the medical indications for sterilization, medical practitioners routinely read the “other medical causes” provision to include HIV/AIDS, and used this provision to justify involuntary sterilization of women living with HIV. Involuntary sterilization can take the form of coerced or forced sterilization. Coerced sterilization occurs when the individual does not provide free and informed consent prior to the sterilization. It may result from the use of intimidation tactics, misinformation, directive counseling or financial or other incentives which compel a person to undergo sterilization. The conditioning of health services on consent to sterilization is another form of coercion. Sterilization is considered forced when a person is sterilized without his or her knowledge or is not given an opportunity to provide consent. Due to sterilization’s permanent nature, it is critical that women provide informed consent prior to the procedure.
Read the complete letter here.
PS
