The Catholic Church from the beginning was against it and Saints Jerome and Augustine censured it. St. Thomas held that an intention of using means to procure sterility was a diriment impediment to matrimony. He did make one exception and that would be the removal of a diseased part of the body for the good of the whole. Catholic theologians agree that therapeutic sterilization can be allowed when serious reasons are present. Indirect therapeutic sterilization is permitted, if it is reasonably certain that such is necessary for the welfare of the whole body since the body is more important than any of its members.
Punitive sterilization is an operation performed on criminals as a punishment for their crimes.
Theoretically, the state may sterilize criminals if sterilization is a genuine punishment. In practice, however, sterilization seems to encourage rather than to deter the sex offender in his crime. Hence, punitive sterilization for sex crimes is not lawful. A penalty may be inflicted only if it is deemed efficacious to prevent subjects from violating the law. Today criminologists agree that sterilization is not an effective penalty.