Sterilization of Mother With Low IQ Ordered

A judge agreed to order the sterilization of a mentally impaired woman who asked for the procedure because she has been pregnant three times in less than two years.

The 22-year-old, whose name was withheld by the court, is due to give birth in a week. She has a 9-month-old who is being cared for by her parents. A miscarriage ended another pregnancy last year.

Erie County Surrogate Judge Joseph Mattina signed the order Friday.

Three different men got the woman pregnant, court officials said. The woman has an IQ of 70, making her developmentally disabled. An IQ of 100 is considered average.

The woman’s parents, who want her sterilized, went to court because she is not considered legally competent to make the decision.

At a hearing Thursday, the woman told Mattina that men have taken advantage of her sexually and that she wants the sterilization because she “can’t find the right man.”

“There are a lot of jerks out there,” she said.

Court-appointed attorneys for the woman said they would challenge Mattina’s order.

Higher court rulings have permitted judges to order sterilizations only when pregnancy might put a woman’s life or health in jeopardy, one of her attorneys, Herbert Siegel, said.

But Susan Gray, an attorney hired by the woman’s family, said the woman cannot control her sexual behavior and that sterilization is the only way to prevent her from getting pregnant.