Ombudsman's Report No. 07: Voluntary Surgical Contraception I. Cases Investigated by the Ombudsman's Office

From June 24, 1997 to January 15, 1998, the Defensoría del Pueblo received reports of cases of women sterilized without proper consent and of alleged irregularities in the implementation of voluntary surgical contraception under the Programa de Salud Reproductiva y Planificación Familiar 1996-2000, overseen by the Ministerio de Salud. For this reason, the Defensoría del Pueblo decided to conduct an investigation into the implementation of voluntary surgical contraception, based on the complaints received and its own ex officio interventions. I. Jurisdiction of the Defensoría del Pueblo II. Scope of this report III. Summary of applicable regulations IV. Documents to be considered V. Analysis VI. Cases investigated to date by the Defensoría del Pueblo VII. Problems identified in the implementation of voluntary surgical contraception VIII. Conclusions IX. Recommendations X. Recipients of the report and the duty to cooperate with the Defensoría del Pueblo XI. Photographs of tubal ligation campaigns. ANNEXES