
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 5, 1994                   TAG: 9403050173
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: associated press
DATELINE: BUFFALO, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Short

JUDGE OKS IMPAIRED WOMAN'S STERILIZATION

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 woman, whose name was withheld by the court, is due to give birth to her second child in mid-March. She has a 9-month-old who is being cared for by her parents, and a miscarriage ended another pregnancy last year.

Erie County Surrogate Court Judge Joseph Mattina signed the order Friday.

Three different men got the woman pregnant, court officials said. The woman has an IQ of about 70, making her developmentally disabled.

The woman's parents want their daughter sterilized and had to go to court because she is not considered legally competent to make the decision for herself. - Associated Press

by CNB