NEWS: Plea In Delhi HC Seeks Ban On Medically Unnecessary Sex-Selective Surgeries On Intersex Infants & Children

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A PIL has been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking a ban on medically unnecessary sex-selective surgeries on intersex infants and children except in case of life-threatening situations.

The plea is filed by Srishti Madurai Educational Research Foundation, a Non-Government funded Trust, which is a forum for Non-binary, Gender Queer & Intersex people.

The Trust has also sought directions to the Delhi Government and Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) to frame detailed policy or guidelines specifying the conditions when medical surgery on intersex infants and children can be performed.

The plea has placed its reliance on the Supreme Court judgment in NALSA vs Union of India, wherein the court opined that no one shall be forced to undergo medical procedures for legal recognition of their gender identity.

Moreover, the plea states the Madras High Court’s decision in directing the state government to effectively ban sex reassignment surgeries on intersex infants and children.

The petition highlights that doctors have submitted that most of the time the sex reassignment surgeries were conducted without prior and fully informed autonomous consent. To which the DCPCR had appointed the founders of the petitioner organization, as its advisors to take a considered decision.

This opinion was based on the response of the Delhi Medical Council, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, and Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of NCT of Delhi.