California lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill to Governor Jerry Brown to prohibit local prisons from performing sterilization surgeries on their inmates.

The submission of the bill comes on the heels of media reports and a subsequent audit that showed prison officials did not comply with California's policy to obtain consent from the women before performing tubal ligation, Reuters reported.

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Based on the provisions of the bill, correctional facilities are not allowed to sterilize incarcerated women for birth control purposes except in life-threatening cases or in medical cases that require the procedure. The bill also states that the surgery may only be done in the absence of other less drastic options.

Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, the author of the bill, said the non-compliance of prison officials dictate that they need to ensure that inmates will never again be sterilized without their consent.

Jackson explained that forcing the women to go through "permanent reproductive choices" without being properly informed is a violation of human rights.

After obtaining a unanimous vote of 33-0 from the Senate, the bill is now at Governor Brown's office awaiting his signature.

Earlier this year, non-profit news group Center for Investigative Reporting raised concerns about California prisons' failure to obtain informed consent from female inmates before tying their fallopian tubes in a surgery. Due to these allegations, lawmakers moved to pass the bill.

In June, the state released an audit showing 144 California inmates underwent tubal ligation within the period of 2005 to 2011. The report said 39 of those women were not properly informed of the details and implications of the procedure.

Tubal ligation is part of routine obstetrical care that prisons provide to their inmates. The issue only came under the spotlight in 2010 when an inmates rights group called for proper securing of informed consent before the sterilization surgery.

In 27 of the audited cases, a doctor did not sign the consent form, contrary to the requirements. Eighteen of the cases potentially violated the waiting period supposed to be given to the women after they gave their consent.

All but one of the cases had errors in obtaining authorization for the surgery, according to auditors.

The audit delivered another blow to California's troubled prison situation. At present, the state is struggling to comply with court orders to improve healthcare in its overcrowded correctional facilities. 

Tagscalifornia, Jerry Brown, Reuters, Hannah-Beth Jackson