After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week, requests for vasectomies began spiking.
Urologists told The Washington Post that more men are seeking the procedure to prevent pregnancies and avoid abortion-related concerns.
“It was very, very noticeable Friday, and then the number that came in over the weekend was huge, and the number that is still coming in far exceeds what we have experienced in the past,” Doug Stein, MD, a Florida urologist known as the “Vasectomy King” for his advocacy of the procedure, told the newspaper.
Before Friday, Stein received four or five vasectomy requests per day. But since Friday, that number has increased to 12 to 18 requests per day.
“Many of the guys are saying that they have been thinking about a vasectomy for a while, and the Roe v. Wade decision was just that final factor that tipped them over the edge and made them submit the online registration,” he said.
Urologists in California, Iowa, and New York also told the Post that they’ve seen a massive increase in the number of vasectomy consultations, as well as an increase in website traffic on their pages that offer information about vasectomies.
A vasectomy is a procedure that prevents sperm from flowing through the vas deferens and combining with semen. About 2 decades ago, Americans said the main reason they relied on a vasectomy as a form of birth control was that they or their partners had all the children they wanted. In the past decade, other reasons became more common, such as medical issues and problems with other types of birth control, the newspaper reported.
In anticipation of Roe v. Wade being overturned and anti-abortion legislation taking effect in states, advocates for vasectomies have encouraged people to get the procedure.
Stein said his practice is now booked through the end of August with vasectomy appointments, so he’s opening more days in his schedule to accommodate patients who submitted recent requests. He and his associate, John Curington, MD, said men under age 30 without children are requesting the procedure in greater numbers that before, with some citing the concurring opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas, which said the Supreme Court should reconsider other landmark cases that protect rights under the 14th Amendment, such as access to contraceptives.
“I’d say at least 60 or 70% are mentioning the Supreme Court decision,” Curington said, according to the Post. “And a few of them have such sophistication as young men that they actually are thinking about Justice Thomas and his opinion that contraception may fall next. And that’s shocking. That’s something that doesn’t enter into our conversations ever, until this week.”
Sources
The Washington Post: “Men rush to get vasectomies after Roe ruling.”
U.S. Supreme Court: “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392.”
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