CHAPTER 451

An Act to authorize the performance by physicians and surgeons of cer-
tain operations upon the reproductive organs of certain persons; to
prescribe the consent which shall be required to be given for the per-
formance of such operations, the time within which the same may be
performed, and the conditions which shall be complied with; and to
provide for exemption from liability for the nonnegligent performance
of such operations.

{H 300]

Approved March 31, 1962

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. (a) It shall be lawful for any physician or surgeon licensed by
this State and acting in collaboration or consultation with at least one or
more physicians or surgeons so licensed, when so requested by any person
twenty-one years of age or over to perform, in a licensed hospital, upon
such person a vasectomy or salpingectomy, as the case may be, provided
a request in writing is made by such person and by his or her spouse, if
there be one, at least thirty days prior to the performance of such surgical
operation, and provided, further, that prior to or at the time of such re-
quest a full and reasonable medical explanation is given by such physician
or surgeon to such person as to the meaning and consequences of such
operation.

(b) As used in this section, ‘‘licensed hospital’ means a hospital duly
licensed by the State Board of Health, as a general hospital providing
facilities for surgical care.

§ 2. Any such physician or surgeon may perform a vasectomy or
salpingectomy upon any person under the age of twenty-one years, pro-
vided that the circuit court of the county or the corporation court of the
city wherein such minor resides, upon petition of the parent or parents, if
they be living, or the committee, guardian, or next friend of such minor,
shall determine that the operation is in the best interest of such minor and
society ; and further that said infant is afflicted with any hereditary form
of mental illness that is recurrent, mental deficiency or epilepsy, and shall
enter an order authorizing the physician or surgeon to perform such opera-
tion. In any such proceeding, the infant shall be made a party defendant
and served with process, a discreet and competent attorney at law shall be
appointed as guardian ad litem for such infant to faithfully represent and
protect its interest, and to otherwise comply with the provisions of § 8-88
of the Code of Virginia.

§ 3. No such operation shall be performed pursuant to the provisions
of this Act prior to thirty days from the date of consent or request there-
for, or in the case of an infant, from the date of the order of the court
authorizing the same, and in neither event if the consent for such operation
is withdrawn prior to its commencement.

§ 4. Subject to the rules of law applicable generally to negligence, no
physician or surgeon licensed by this State shall be liable either civilly or
criminally by reason of having performed a vasectomy or salpingectomy
authorized by the provisions of this Act upon any person in this State.

§ 5. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to affect the provisions of
§ 37-246 of the Code of Virginia.