Voluntary Sterilization (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 11/1972

Read the first time on 7th March 1972.

An Act to amend the Voluntary Sterilization Act (Chapter 170 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Voluntary Sterilization (Amendment) Act, 1972, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

New section 4A

2. The Voluntary Sterilization Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”) is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 4 thereof the following new section: —

“Board may appoint committees

4A.—(1) The Board may from time to time appoint committees of persons who may or may not be members of the Board, either for general or specific purposes, and may delegate to such committees power to do any specific act or carry out any specific function.

(2) Any committee appointed by the Board under subsection (1) of this section shall consist of such number of members as the Board may decide but in every committee, so appointed, one of the members shall be a registered medical practitioner and one of the members shall be a professionally qualified social worker.

(3) The Chairman of the Board shall, by virtue of his office, be a member of every committee, and if present at any meeting, shall preside.

(4) Every committee shall report to the Board.”.

Amendment of section 5

3. Section 5 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (c) of subsection (2) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(c)

the applicant is the father or mother, as the case may be —

(i)	of two or more existing children; or
(ii)	of one existing child where the Board is of the opinion formed in good faith that treatment for sexual sterilization is necessary or desirable on medical, therapeutic or environmental grounds (the expression “environmental grounds” in this sub-paragraph includes the financial and social circumstances of the applicant).”;

(b)

by inserting immediately after subsection (2) thereof the following new subsections: —

“(3) The Board may authorise treatment for sexual sterilization on an applicant, if the following conditions are satisfied, namely —

(a)	in the case of an applicant over twenty-one years of age, who is not married, if the applicant applies to the Board in writing requesting such treatment for sexual sterilization and gives consent to such treatment;
(b)	in the case of an applicant who is married, whether over twenty-one years of age or not, if he applies to the Board in writing for treatment for sexual sterilization and gives consent to such treatment and if his application is accompanied by a consent in writing of the wife or husband, if there is one, of the applicant,

and in either case, to which paragraph (a) or (b) refers —

(c)	if the applicant for treatment is afflicted with any hereditary form of illness that is recurrent, mental illness, mental deficiency or epilepsy; and
(d)	if the Board considers that the treatment is in the best interest of the applicant and of society generally.

(4) Where a person —

(a)

who is married is afflicted with a mental illness or mental deficiency to such an extent as to be unable to apply to the Board in writing for treatment for sexual sterilization and to give his consent to that treatment, the wife or husband of that person, if there is one, may apply in writing to the Board requesting treatment for sexual sterilization and give consent on behalf of the person to such treatment; or

(b)

who is not married and is twenty-one years of age or over and is afflicted with mental illness or mental deficiency to such an extent as to be unable to apply to the Board in writing for treatment for sexual sterilization and to give his consent to that treatment, the parent or parents, if living, or the guardian of such person if there is no parent living may apply in writing to the Board requesting treatment for sexual sterilization and give consent to such treatment,

and the Board may authorise treatment for sexual sterilization on that person if it considers that the treatment is in the best interests of that person and of society generally.”;

(c)

by renumbering the existing subsections (3), (4), (5) and (6) as subsections (5), (6), (7) and (8) respectively;

(d)

by inserting immediately after the expression “recurrent,” appearing in the second line of paragraph (b) of subsection (5) thereof the expression “mental illness,”;

(e)

by deleting the word “thirty” appearing in the second line of subsection (6) thereof and substituting therefor the word “seven”;

(f)

by deleting the word “thirty” appearing in the second line of subsection (7) thereof and substituting therefor the word “seven”;

(g)

by deleting the word “shall” appearing in the third line of subsection (7) thereof and substituting therefor the word “may”;

(h)

by deleting the expression “(4)” appearing in the first line of subsection (8) thereof and substituting therefor the expression “(6)”;

(i)

by deleting the word “three” appearing in the second line of subsection (8) thereof and substituting therefor the word “two”;

(j)

by inserting immediately after the word “is” appearing in the third line of subsection (8) thereof the words “about to enter or is in a Government hospital or”; and

(k)

by inserting immediately after the word “child” appearing at the end of paragraph (b) of subsection (8) thereof the words “or undergoing gynaecological surgery”.

Amendment of section 8

4. Section 8 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)	by deleting the expression “shall be made by the applicant in person,” appearing in the second line of subsection (1) thereof;
(b)	by inserting immediately after the word “may” appearing in the second line of subsection (2) thereof the words “call for such further documents or certificates as it may require and may”;
(c)	by deleting the expression “(4)” appearing in the fifth line of subsection (3) thereof and substituting therefor the expression “(6)”; and
(d)	by deleting the expression “(3)” appearing in the second line of subsection (4) thereof and substituting therefor the expression “(5)”.

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