Section 17-405. Requirements for informed consent

No sterilization shall be
  performed which does not meet the following conditions:
    1.  Initial  consent  may not be elicited from a female patient during
  admission or hospitalization for childbirth or abortion.
    2. An informational session conducted by a counselor, who is  not  the
  operating  physician,  must  precede  the  patient's consent. During the
  session,  information  about  the  irreversibility   of   sterilization,
  alternative  methods  of contraception, and the corresponding risks must
  be discussed in the preferred language of the patient.
    3. Written informed consent for sterilization must  be  obtained  from
  each  patient.  A standardized consent form must be used to satisfy this
  requirement. The form, supplied by  the  department  must  be  explained
  orally  by  the  counselor  in  the presence of a witness. A copy of the
  signed consent form shall be provided the patient.
    4. On admission to  the  facility  where  the  sterilization  will  be
  performed  each  patient  must  give  written  affirmation of his or her
  informed consent to the sterilization.
    5. The patient must be given oral and written assurance  that  medical
  services  or  benefits  will  not  be  lost  as  a  result  of  refusing
  sterilization.
    6. Contraceptive devices will be  prescribed  for  the  patient's  use
  during the thirty-day waiting period.
    7.  Consent for the sterilization may be revoked any time prior to the
  operation.