Involuntary sterilization of mentally retarded minors in Nebraska.

Sterilization of mentally retarded persons: reproductive rights and family privacy.

Sterilization is one of the most frequently chosen forms of contraception in the world;1 many persons who do not want to have children select this simple, safe, and effective means of avoiding unwanted pregnancy. For individuals who are mentally disabled, however, sterilization has more ominous associations. Until recently, involuntary sterilization was used as a weapon of the state in the war ...

Management of menstrual problems and contraception in adolescents with mental retardation: a medical, legal, and ethical review with new suggested guidelines.

The controversial history of the reproductive rights of the mentally retarded has led to the formulation of laws in the past century designed to protect women from forced sterilization. Significantly, however, in their official ethical guidelines, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states that "sterilization should not be denied to individuals simply because they also may b...

Involuntary outpatient commitment for the chronically mentally ill.

Commitment to psychiatric care: what justifies broader criteria for minors?

Background Commitment to psychiatric care is in Finland allowed for minors in broader terms than for adults. Minors can be committed to and detained in involuntary psychiatric treatment if they suffer from severe mental disorder and fullfil the additional commitment criteria defined in the Mental Health Act. Adults can be committed to involuntary psychiatric care only if they are mentally ill (...

Reflections on recent mental retardation development in Nebraska. I. A new plan.

IN early 1968, there were virtually no community services for the mentally retarded in Nebraska, and the Stale's remotely located single public institution was in deplorable condition and crowded with over 2,300 residents. Today, in late 1970, early 1968 seems eons away: a whole new system of services is developing; the institution is rapidly declining in size; Nebraska has leap-frogged many st...