{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-json\/54.1-2979.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-text\/54.1-2979.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-xml\/54.1-2979.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-html\/54.1-2979.html"}],"law_id":368509,"edition_id":2,"section_id":368509,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2979","catch_line":"No liability for nonnegligent performance of operation","history":"1981, c. 454, \u00a7 54-325.14; 1988, c. 765.","full_text":"Subject to the rules of law applicable generally to negligence, no physician licensed by the Board of Medicine shall be either civilly or criminally liable by reason of having performed a vasectomy, salpingectomy, or other surgical sexual sterilization procedure upon any person in this Commonwealth as authorized by this article.\n\n","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":1372754,"text":"Subject to the rules of law applicable generally to negligence, no physician licensed by the Board of Medicine shall be either civilly or criminally liable by reason of having performed a vasectomy, salpingectomy, or other surgical sexual sterilization procedure upon any person in this Commonwealth as authorized by this article.","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1}},"ancestry":[{"id":52510,"edition_id":2,"name":"Sexual Sterilization","identifier":"7","label":"article","depth":4,"order_by":7,"parent_id":52503,"metadata":{"child_laws":7,"child_structures":0},"date_created":"2026-08-02 03:00:12","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:35:06","permalink":{"id":1469551,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":52510,"identifier":"7","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7","url":"\/54.1\/III\/29\/7\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":52503,"edition_id":2,"name":"Medicine and Other Healing Arts","identifier":"29","label":"chapter","depth":3,"order_by":10,"parent_id":52479,"metadata":{"child_laws":183,"child_structures":10},"date_created":"2026-08-02 02:59:48","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:35:05","permalink":{"id":1468935,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":52503,"identifier":"29","token":"54.1\/III\/29","url":"\/54.1\/III\/29\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":52479,"edition_id":2,"name":"Professions and Occupations Regulated by Boards Within the Department of Health Professions","identifier":"III","label":"subtitle","depth":2,"order_by":3,"parent_id":52436,"metadata":{"child_laws":738,"child_structures":83},"date_created":"2026-08-02 02:59:23","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:35:00","permalink":{"id":1468107,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":52479,"identifier":"III","token":"54.1\/III","url":"\/54.1\/III\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":52436,"edition_id":2,"name":"Professions and Occupations","identifier":"54.1","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":118,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{"child_laws":1282,"child_structures":163},"date_created":"2026-08-02 02:58:52","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:34:51","permalink":{"id":1466315,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":52436,"identifier":"54.1","token":"54.1","url":"\/54.1\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":368504,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2974","catch_line":"Sterilization operations for persons 18 years or older capable of informed consent","url":"\/54.1-2974\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2974","metadata":false},{"id":368505,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2975","catch_line":"Sterilization operations for certain children incapable of informed consent","url":"\/54.1-2975\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2975","metadata":false},{"id":368506,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2976","catch_line":"Sterilization operations for certain adults incapable of informed consent","url":"\/54.1-2976\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2976","metadata":false},{"id":368507,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2977","catch_line":"Standards for court-authorized sterilization of certain persons","url":"\/54.1-2977\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2977","metadata":false},{"id":368508,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2978","catch_line":"Reports of certain sterilizations","url":"\/54.1-2978\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2978","metadata":false},{"id":368509,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2979","catch_line":"No liability for nonnegligent performance of operation","url":"\/54.1-2979\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2979","metadata":false},{"id":368510,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2980","catch_line":"Article inapplicable to certain medical or surgical treatment","url":"\/54.1-2980\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2980","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":368508,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2978","catch_line":"Reports of certain sterilizations","url":"\/54.1-2978\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2978","metadata":false},"next_section":{"id":368510,"structure_id":52510,"section_number":"54.1-2980","catch_line":"Article inapplicable to certain medical or surgical treatment","url":"\/54.1-2980\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2980","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/54.1-2979\/","history_text":"<p>This law was first created in 1981. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 454 of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1981 \u201cActs\u201d aren\u2019t available online. It has been modified 1 time. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. That modification is as follows: in 1988, chapter 765.<\/p>","references":false,"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":1469573,"object_type":"law","relational_id":368509,"identifier":"54.1-2979","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2979","url":"\/54.1-2979\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/54.1-2979\/","token":"54.1\/III\/29\/7\/54.1-2979","dublin_core":{"Title":"No liability for nonnegligent performance of operation","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 54.1-2979","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section><p>Subject to the rules of <span class=\"dictionary\">law<\/span> applicable generally to <span class=\"dictionary\">negligence<\/span>, no physician licensed by the <span class=\"dictionary\">Board<\/span> of Medicine shall be either civilly or criminally liable by reason of having performed a vasectomy, salpingectomy, or other surgical sexual sterilization procedure upon any person in this Commonwealth as authorized by this article.<\/p><\/section>","plain_text":"                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nNO LIABILITY FOR NONNEGLIGENT PERFORMANCE OF OPERATION (\u00a7 54.1-2979)\n\nSubject to the rules of law applicable generally to negligence, no physician\nlicensed by the Board of Medicine shall be either civilly or criminally liable\nby reason of having performed a vasectomy, salpingectomy, or other surgical\nsexual sterilization procedure upon any person in this Commonwealth as\nauthorized by this article.\n\nHISTORY: 1981, c. 454, \u00a7 54-325.14; 1988, c. 765.","edition":{"id":2,"name":"2026","slug":"2026","date_created":"2026-07-16 18:40:23","date_modified":"2026-08-02 15:14:36","current":1,"order_by":2,"last_import":"2026-08-02 12:37:30"}}