Chap. 394.—An ACT to provide for the sexual sterilization of inmates of State
institutions in certain cases. {S B 281]

Approved March 20, 1924.

Whereas, both the health of the individual patient and the welfare of
society may be promoted in certain cases by the sterilization of mental
defectives under careful safeguard and by competent and conscientious
authority, and

Whereas, such sterilization may be effected in males by the operation
of vasectomy and in females by the operation of salpingectomy, both of
which said operations may be performed without serious pain or sub-
stantial danger to the life of the patient, and

Whereas, the Commonwealth has in custodial care and is support-
ing in various State institutions many defective persons who if now
discharged or paroled would likely become by the propagation of their
kind a menace to society but who if incapable of procreating might
properly and safely be discharged or paroled and become self-supporting
with benefit both to themselves and to society, and

Whereas, human experience has demonstrated that heredity plays
an important part in the transmission of insanity, idiocy, imbecility,
epilepsy and crime, now, therefore

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That when-
ever the superintendent of the Western State Hospital, or of the East-
ern State Hospital, or of the Southwestern State Hospital, or of the
Central State Hospital, or of the State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-
Minded, shall be of opinion that it is for the best interests of the pa-
tients and of society that any inmate of the institution under his care
should be sexually sterilized, such superintendent is hereby authorized
to perform, or cause to be performed by some capable physician or sur-
geon, the operation of sterilization on any such patient confined in such
institution afflicted with hereditary forms of insanity that are recurrent,
idiocy, imbecility, feeble-mindedness or epilepsy; provided that such
superintendent shall have first complied with the requirements of this
act.

2. Such superintendent shall first present to the special board of
directors of his hospital or colony a petition stating the facts of the case
and the grounds of his opinion, verified by his affidavit to the best of
his knowledge and belief, and praying that an order may be entered by
said board requiring him to perform or to have performed by some com-
petent physician to be designated by him in his said petition or by said
board in its order, upon the inmate of his institution named in such
petition, the operation of vasectomy if upon a male and of salpingec-
tomy if upon a female.

A copy of said petition must be served upon the inmate together
with a notice in writing designating the time and place in the said in-
stitution, not less than thirty days before the presentation of such peti-
tion to said special board of directors when and where said board may
hear and act upon such petition.
A copy of the said petition and notice shall also be so served upon
the legal guardian or committee of the said inmate if such guardian or
committee be known to the said superintendent, and if there be no such
guardian or committee or none such be known to the said superintend-
ent, then the said superintendent shall apply to the circuit court of
the county or city in which his said institution is situated, or to the
judge thereof in vacation, who by a proper order entered in the common
law order book of the said court shall appoint some suitable person to
act as guardian of the said inmate during and for the purposes of pro-
ceedings under this act, to defend the rights and interests of the said
inmate, and the guardian so appointed shall be paid by the said institu-
tion a fee of not exceeding twenty-five dollars as may be determined by
the judge of the said court for his services under said appointment and
such guardian shall be served likewise with a copy of the aforesaid peti-
tion and notice. Such guardian may be removed or discharged at any
time by the said court or the judge thereof in vacation and a new guard-
lan appointed and substituted in his place.

If the said inmate be an infant having a living parent or parents
whose names and addresses are known to the said superintendent, they
or either of them as the case may be shall be served likewise with a
copy of the said petition and notice.

After the notice required by this act shall have been so given, the
said special board at the time and place named therein, with such rea-
sonable continuances from time to time and from place to place as the
said special board may determine, shall proceed to hear and consider
the said petition and the evidence offered in support of and against the
same, provided that the said special board shall see to it that the said
inmate shall have opportunity and leave to attend the said hearings in
person if desired by him or if requested by his committee, guardian or
parent served with the notice and petition aforesaid.

The said special board may receive and consider as evidence at the
said hearing the commitment. papers and other records of the said in-
mate with or in any of the aforesaid named institutions as certified by
the superintendent or superintendents thereof, together with such other
legal evidence as may be offered by any party to the proceedings.

Any member of the said special board shall have power to administer
oaths to any witnesses at such hearing.

Depositions may be taken by any party after due notice and read in
evidence if otherwise pertinent.

The said special board shall preserve and keep all record evidence
offered at such hearings and shall have reduced to writing in duplicate
all oral evidence so heard to be kept with its records.

Any party to the said proceedings shall have the right to be repre-
sented by counsel at such hearings.

The said special board may deny the prayer of the said petition or
if the said special board shall find that the said inmate is insane, idiotic,
imbecile, feeble-minded or epileptic, and by the laws of heredity is the
probable potential parent of socially inadequate offspring hkewise
afflicted, that the said inmate may be sexually sterilized without detri-
ment to his or her general health, and that the welfare of the inmate and
of society will be promoted by such sterilization, the said special board
may order the said superintendent to perform or to have performed by
some competent physician to be named in such order upon the said in-
mate, after not less than thirty days from the date of such order, the
operation of vasectomy if a male or of salpingectomy if a female; pro-
vided that nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize the opera-
tion of castration nor the removal of sound organs from the body.

3. From any order so entered by the said special board the said
superintendent or the said inmate or his committee or guardian or par-
ent or next friend shall within thirty days after the date of such order
have an appeal of right to the circuit court of the county or city in which
the said institution is situated, which appeal may be taken by giving
notice thereof in writing to any member of the said special board and
to the other parties to the said proceeding, whereupon the said superin-
tendent shall forthwith cause a copy of the. petition, notice, evidence
and orders of the said special board certified by the chairman or in his
absence by any other member thereof, to the clerk of the said circuit
court, who shall file the same and docket the appeal to be heard and
determined by the said court as soon thereafter as may be practicable.

The said circuit court in determining such appeal may consider the
record of the proceedings before the said special board, including the
evidence therein appearing together with such other legal evidence: as
the said court may consider pertinent and proper that may be offered
to the said court by any party to the appeal.

‘ Upon such appeal the said circuit court may affirm, revise or reverse
the orders of the said special board appealed from and may enter such
order as it deems just and right and which it shall certify to the said
special board of directors.

The pendency of such appeal shall stay proceedings under the order
of the special board until the appeal be determined.

4. Any party to such appeal in the circuit court may within ninety
days after the date of the final order therein, apply for an appeal to the
supreme court of appeals, which may grant or refuse such appeal and
shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the same upon the record
of trial in the circuit court and to enter such order as it may find that
the circuit court should have entered.

The pendency of an appeal in the supreme court of appeals shall
operate as a stay of proceedings under any orders of the special board
or of the circuit court until the appeal be determined by the said su-
preme court of appeals.

5. Neither any of said superintendents nor any other person legally
participating in the execution of the provisions of this act shall be liable
either civilly or criminally on account of said participation.

6. Nothing in this act shall be construed so as to prevent the medi-
cal or surgical treatment for sound therapeutic reasons of any person in
this State, by a physician or surgeon licensed by this State, which treat-
ment may incidentally involve the nullification or destruction of the
reproductive functions.