Why are 11 women dead in India? State sanctioned sterilization

Eleven women have died and some dozens more are in critical condition in a hospital in India, after a state-run sterilization procedure went badly wrong.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - India runs numerous sterilization programs, providing cash or incentives for women to undergo the procedure. In fact it is one of the most popular family planning methods in the country which is struggling with a massive population of over a billion.

Stop throwing pro-life donations away. Support a pro-life movement that's proven to work!

Over the weekend 60 women fell ill following the sterilization procedures in the state of Chhattisgarh. Symptoms including vomiting and dramatic drops in blood pressure, and now ten have died, Sonmani Borah, the commissioner for the camp reported.

"With two more deaths reported today (November 11), the death toll in the family planning operation-related case has gone up to 10," he said.

Over 80 women had the procedure in a government run facility.

It still isn't clear what has caused these deaths, but doctors said that due to the symptoms exhibited, the drugs given during the procedure may have been the cause.

In India, the government frequently creates mass sterilization camps where women are given the equivalent of $23 as an incentive to have the operation. Pressure to meet set quotas also causes local governments offer other incentives like cars and electrical goods to couples undergoing the procedure.

These procedures are voluntary, but are decried by human rights groups because they are so target-driven. Women are often coerced into being sterilized, and many of the medical facilities performing these operations are not sanitary.

The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Raman Sign, has suspended four health officials because of the deaths, and an official police complain was filed against the surgeon who performed the sterilization procedure. Each of the families who lost a daughter will also receive $6,500 in compensation.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'