title: Definitive birth control and the physician--ethical issues.
abstract: We analyze the ethical issues related to the physician's role in informing about, advising, rejecting, or performing a definitive birth control procedure (sterilization). We define a rational request for tubal ligation, the limited delaying (or facilitating) role that guidelines for deciding on ligation should have, the justifiable reasons for rejecting a request, and the physician's obligations and options. We also consider the need to supply adequate information, the implications of recommending a second-best treatment, and the pivotal place of the "likelihood of regret" in medical decision-making.
mesh_terms: D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods; D003657:Decision Making; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010819:Physician's Role; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D013245:Sterilization, Reproductive; D013246:Sterilization, Tubal; D014659:Vasectomy