Recent events in India suggest that LARCs (long-acting, reversible contraceptives) are being promoted as a soft form of sterilization.
The country’s mass sterilization programs, which persisted even after Cairo, became politically inconvenient after 15 women died as a result of botched “cattle camp” tubal ligations in 2014.
After a highly publicized meeting between Narendra Modi and Mr. and Mrs. Gates, the prime minister felt empowered to introduce injectable contraceptives in the national family planning program as a next-best substitute for sterilization.
Seventy prominent Indian feminists, scholars, and health workers signed a statement in vehement protest of the decision, to no avail.
By Jacob Levich, April 26, 2019
