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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 10, 1994                   TAG: 9403100174
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BUFFALO, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Short

JUDGE OKS REQUEST FOR STERILIZATION

A mentally impaired woman who has been pregnant four times in two years was granted her request Wednesday to be sterilized in order to avoid future pregnancies.

The woman, who is nine months pregnant, will be sterilized after she gives birth by Caesarean section to her second child today or Friday, said Erie County Surrogate Court Judge Joseph Mattina.She has a 14-month-old son being cared for by her mother. Her other two pregnancies ended in miscarriages.

Mattina's decision came after two attorneys appointed by the court to look after the woman's interests gave up their challenge to the sterilization.

by CNB