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  • 4 - Commentary on Conservatorship of Valerie N.

  • Edited by Seema Mohapatra, SMU Dedman School of Law, Texas, Lindsay Wiley, UCLA School of Law, California
  • Book:
    Feminist Judgments: Health Law Rewritten
    Published online:
    15 December 2022
    Print publication:
    22 December 2022, pp 66-93

  • Summary

    Conservatorship of Valerie N. is the next case in this volume. The original 1985 opinion from the California Supreme Court concerned an “adult developmentally disabled daughter,” whose parents wished to have her surgically sterilized because she was (according to the parents) sexually aggressive towards men. Although the original opinion held that the California law did not authorize the sterilization of Valerie the case is nonetheless ripe for a feminist rewrite. Professor Doriane Lambelet Coleman’s feminist judgment demonstrates how feminism requires attention not only to women’s issues in general but also to the woman herself, and not only to childbearing (or not) but also to sexuality separate from its procreative aspects. Professors Cynthia Soohoo and Sofia Yakren’s commentary situates the case in terms of how sexism and ableism shape attitudes towards sexuality, reproduction, and health care decision-making powers of women with disabilities. It also discusses the evolving understanding of capacity to make medical treatment decisions and alternatives to traditional surrogate decision-making.