Voluntary and involuntary sterilization: medical, ethical, legal and religious aspects.

Surgical voluntary sterilization has become one of the most widely used methods of contraception, with vasectomy and tubal sterilization being the most commonly employed techniques, associated with a low failure, morbidity, mortality, and long-term sequelae rate. As sterilization is related with the elimination of the possibility for procreation, a number of ethical, legal and religious issues have arisen, leading often to personal misjudgements, legal disputes, and failures in applying family planning. Involuntary sterilization is currently not practiced, except in cases of severely mentally retarded people, who are unable to appreciate the consequences of their acts or care for their children and who may have a high likelihood of propagating hereditary disease.