Analysis of informed consent in female sterilisation of vulnerable women according to the Ecuadorian legal framework [Análisis del consentimiento informado en esterilización femenina de mujeres vulnerables según el marco jurídico ecuatoriano]
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62574/rmpi.v5imultidisciplinar.443Keywords:
health policy, preventive medicine, maternal wellbeingAbstract
Female sterilisation, as a definitive procedure, requires informed consent that guarantees free and informed decisions. In Ecuador, the Constitution and the Organic Health Law establish guarantees of reproductive autonomy, consent, information and confidentiality, which justifies examining whether these provisions effectively ensure the validity of consent in contexts of vulnerability. This qualitative, descriptive study analyses constitutional, legal and administrative norms, compares Latin American experiences and systematises findings on capacity, information, institutional support and revocability. The results show that, despite a robust regulatory framework, operational gaps persist in the verification of clinical competence, reflection periods, and the provision of support in cases of educational or linguistic barriers, exposing the decision to risks of formalism. It is concluded that the validity of informed consent in female sterilisation requires regulatory and operational adjustments to ensure traceable and authentically deliberative clinical processes.
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