Legislation about (forced) sterilisation

Forced sterilisation is authorised in Estonia through the Termination of Pregnancy and Sterilisation Act of November 1998.

• 20-24 of the said Act provides that sterilisation of a person is performed at their own written request. Although the sterilisation of minors is prohibited, forced sterilisation is authorised for adults, since the sterilisation of a person with “restricted active legal capacity” may be decided by a county court upon the request of the guardian of that person. Free and informed consent of the person concerned in that case is not mentioned in the Act.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommended that Estonia prohibits the forced sterilisation of women with disabilities based on third-party requests, including from guardians or tutors in its concluding observations on the initial report of Estonia.