Katie Thorpe is a fifteen year old with severe cerebral palsy who lives in England.  In October 2007, her case came to light in the international media when her mother sought to have her sterilized because she felt her daughter could not handle having her period.  The case was the first of its kind in Britain and had strong echoes of the Ashley X case  Legally, Katie’s reproductive rights lay in a gray area and her case would be brought before a court to determine whether a medically unnecessary sterilization as lawful. 

In response, FRIDA issued a press release to support the advocacy efforts of Britons with disabilities against Katie’s sterilization.  FRIDA also educated the disability community at large about the case.   FRIDA encouraged people to write to Katie’s gynecologist and British public health authorities to explain why medically unnecessary sterilization is a violation of her human rights. 

Katie’s mother went very public about Katie’s day-to day needs, insisting that a hysterectomy would improve Katie’s life and prevent her from feeling pain that she would not be able to verbalize.  Katie’s inability to communicate makes it impossible for us to know what she would really want; yet FRIDA feels her human right to bodily integrity should be respected.  In addition, Britain must address the lack of in-home community supports for families such as Katie’s.

At present, there is no word on whether Katie’s sterilization has been approved.  Because the approval involves a legal decision, the British public has a right to know whether the bodies of other people with disabilities are protected from forced sterilization.

To read more about Katie Thorpe, please see:

Should the Court of Appeal allow Katie Thorpe’s womb to be removed?

Why Can’t You Let Katie Grow Up? 

To learn more about disability in the UK, please see:

Ouch!

Direct Action Network

Scope

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 25th, 2007 at 5:41 pm and is filed under Old Campaigns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.