Queensland legislation has claimed another victim of the reproductive health care wars, with a young woman being forced to fight for her right to access a tubal ligation. Because never forget that women - silly, hysterical and childish that we are - can't be trusted to know what's best for our bodies, our lives and the families we might already have.

Holly Maitland is 27 weeks pregnant with her third child. All three of her children have been the unplanned result of failed contraception, a pattern Maitland and her husband would like to see an end to. Maitland's pregnancies have all been high risk, characterised by gestational diabetes and complicated labours. She has reached out to both public and private specialists to perform a tubal ligation to prevent the toll a future pregnancy might take on her body - but because she is only 22 years old, she's been repeatedly told she is 'too young' to make that decision. She has since launched an online petition calling on the Prime Minister to grant Australian women the right to assert control over their own reproductive health choices.

Credit:Stocksy

Maitland isn't the first woman to have her specific wishes about her body dismissed by a medical fraternity historically invested in making these decisions for us. The Victorian government's Better Health website points out that most specialists are hesitant to perform the surgery on women under the age of 30 and/or those who do not have children. This isn't because of medical concerns. Rather, it's borne out of the belief that such women will 'change their minds later' even if they have numerous children already or have been resolute in their desire to remain childfree for as long as they can remember.

In writing this piece, I took to my Facebook page to ask for anecdotal evidence from women with similar experiences. The stories poured in, and I recommend reading the thread to get a fuller insight into how widespread this problem is (and not just in Australia). One reader told me that her mother's tubal ligation procedure required a signature of approval from her father (noting that the reverse wasn't true to secure his vasectomy). Another talked of facing numerous refusals despite having a reproductive history that included five children (two of whom were conceived while using contraception), one miscarriage and one ectopic pregnancy. When a doctor finally agreed to perform the procedure, it was on the proviso she spend at least three years on Mirena first. Curiously, others referenced similar directions or recommendations.