Right to counsel

For involuntary sterilization, Cal. Prob. Code § 1958 provides a procedure for a conservator of a person to consent to sterilization, while Cal. Prob. Code § 1951 adds that “No person who has the ability to consent to his or her sterilization shall be sterilized pursuant to this chapter.”  Cal. Prob. Code § 1954 provides that “in any proceeding under this chapter, if the person named in the petition for court authorization to consent to sterilization has not retained legal counsel and does not plan to retain legal counsel, the court shall immediately appoint the public defender or private counsel to represent the individual for whom sterilization is proposed. Counsel shall undertake the representation with the presumption that the individual opposes the petition.”