[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 12, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 42CFR441.251]

[Page 266]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
  CHAPTER IV--CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF 
                 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES--(Continued)
 
PART 441--SERVICES: REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITS APPLICABLE TO SPECIFIC SERVICES--Table of Contents
 
                        Subpart F--Sterilizations
 
Sec. 441.251  Definitions.

    As used in this subpart:
    Hysterectomy means a medical procedure or operation for the purpose 
of removing the uterus.
    Institutionalized individual means an individual who is (a) 
involuntarily confined or detained, under a civil or criminal statute, 
in a correctional or rehabilitative facility, including a mental 
hospital or other facility for the care and treatment of mental illness; 
or (b) confined, under a voluntary commitment, in a mental hospital or 
other facility for the care and treatment of mental illness.
    Mentally incompetent individual means an individual who has been 
declared mentally incompetent by a Federal, State, or local court of 
competent jurisdiction for any purpose, unless the individual has been 
declared competent for purposes which include the ability to consent to 
sterilization.
    Sterilization means any medical procedure, treatment, or operation 
for the purpose of rendering an individual permanently incapable of 
reproducing.