Launch of Public Consultation on Proposed Amendments to the Voluntary Sterilization Act (VSA)

1         The Voluntary Sterilization Act (VSA)¹ was enacted in 1970 to protect the rights of individuals who wish to elect for the sterilization procedures in authorised healthcare establishments. It was introduced then for the purpose of family planning.

2        To ensure the VSA remains relevant and reflects the changing of times, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will be conducting a public consultation to discuss the proposed amendments to the Act. Aimed at aligning it with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) (2008), the amendments are targeted to further protect the vulnerable in our society.

Key Proposed Revisions to the Voluntary Sterilization Act (VSA)

3        Under the current VSA, for persons who are “afflicted with any hereditary form of illness that is recurrent, mental illness, mental deficiency or epilepsy”, the VSA permits the parent/guardian or spouse of that person to give consent on behalf of the person undergoing a surgical sterilization procedure.

Personal consent for the procedure

4        To safeguard the interests of the vulnerable in our society, the MOH seeks public feedback on its proposal to amend the VSA to better align it with the MCA (2008). This means that so long as the person has the mental capacity as defined by the MCA, the person must give his/her own consent for the procedure. For persons lacking the mental capacity as defined by the MCA, the procedure may still be carried out but on two conditions. First, consent must be obtained from the person’s parent/guardian/spouse and second, the doctor must certify that the procedure is necessary in the best interests of the person. 

[Please refer to relevant extracts of the MCA at Annex on how mental capacity as well as best interests of a person are defined]

Increase in penalties for breach of the VSA

5        The MOH is also seeking feedback on its proposal to increase the penalty for disclosure of confidential information from a fine not exceeding $2,000, to a fine not exceeding $10,000. The increase in the penalty is to align the offence with the provisions on disclosure of confidential information in other healthcare legislation (such as the Infectious Diseases Act and the Human Organ Transplant Act).  The maximum jail term of 12 months remains unchanged.

6        In addition, the MOH proposes to increase the maximum penalty for persons who, by means of coercion or intimidation, compel or induce another person to undergo the procedure against his/her will from the current $5,000 to $10,000. This proposed increase is aimed at accounting for the severity of the offence. The maximum jail term of 5 years remains unchanged.

Streamline requirements for healthcare institutions

7        The VSA currently requires healthcare institutions that wish to carry out sexual sterilization to obtain approval from the Minister for Health before conducting the procedure.  As sexual sterilization is not a medically complicated procedure, the MOH would like to seek the public’s views on allowing the procedure to be carried out in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centres or specialist medical clinics that are licensed under the Private Hospitals & Medical Clinics Act (PHMCA), without prior approval from the Minister for Health.

8        To ensure patient safety is not compromised, the Ministry is proposing for medical practitioners who wish to carry out such procedures in hospitals and ambulatory surgical centres to first seek authorisation and be credentialed by their respective healthcare institutions before carrying out the procedure. Under the PHMCA, licensed hospitals and ambulatory surgical centres are also required to ensure that the medical practitioners working in the hospitals/centres have the requisite qualifications, training, experience and competence to carry out such procedures. When the procedure is carried out in a specialist medical clinic, the medical practitioner carrying out the procedure would need to possess specialist surgical, urology and obstetric and gynaecology qualifications in accordance with Section 22 of the Medical Registration Act.²

Public Consultation

9        Public is invited to participate in the consultation exercise on the above proposed amendments over a four-week period from 4 June to 2 July 2012. During the exercise, feedback can be submitted via the online feedback form,  email (moh_info@moh.gov.sg), or mail (addressed to: Ministry of Health, Marketing Communications Branch, College of Medicine Building, 16 College Road, Singapore 169854).

10      A copy of the Public Consultation paper and draft Bill (as attached) are available on the MOH and REACH websites. All feedback should reach the Ministry by 2 July 2012, 1700hrs.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

4 June 2012

¹ Countries that have an equivalent of a VSA include Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Japan, and the USA.

² Medical Registration Act

Section 22 : Registration of specialists

—(1)  Subject to the provisions of this Act, any person —

(a)who holds such postgraduate degrees or qualifications; or

(b)who has gained such special knowledge of and skill and experience,

in a particular branch or branches of medicine, may apply to the Medical Council to be registered as a specialist