The vasectomy boom: After Dobbs, younger men are stepping up

[marmar]

The vasectomy boom: After Dobbs, younger men are stepping up
Planned Parenthood clinics in some states are providing vasectomies — and plenty of younger men want them

By NICOLE KARLIS
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED MARCH 3, 2024 9:00AM (EST)


(Salon) On the last day of July in 2023, Planned Parenthood performed its final abortion in the state of Indiana. It was the day before the state would begin enforcing a near-total abortion ban, with very narrow exceptions, after a year of legal battles that followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to end the constitutional right to abortion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case. Before the Dobbs decision, which effectively allowed every state to set its own abortion laws, four Planned Parenthood clinics in Indiana provided abortion services once a week. Today, abortions are no longer an option.

Deborah Nucatola, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, told Salon the abortion ban was especially devastating. Indiana had briefly served as a haven for out-of-state patients, such as those from Kentucky, whose access to abortion services was immediately restricted after Dobbs. Indiana became a “surge state,” serving many patients who were traveling from elsewhere, even while providers knew they would eventually had to cease their services.

....(snip)....

The next logical step, Indiana providers decided, was to focus on male reproductive health. In February, the Planned Parenthood affiliate announced it would offer vasectomy services at three locations across the state, including one in Fort Wayne, with plans to expand to Georgetown by late March. The affiliate also has plans to add additional vasectomy services in southern Indiana and Kentucky over the next six months. Nucatola said that by offering vasectomies, Planned Parenthood is adding to its contraceptive “toolbox” and offering more options to prevent unwanted pregnancies in a post-Dobbs world.

....(snip)....

This expansion of vasectomy services in Indiana speaks to a nationwide increase in interest in the procedure following the Dobbs decision. Immediately after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Google saw the highest volume of searches for “vasectomy” in the past five years. Last year, preliminary data found a significant uptick in vasectomy consultations. According to the International Journal of Impotence Research, there was a 35 percent increase in vasectomy consultation requests and a 22.4 percent increase in actual vasectomy consultations after the Dobbs decision. Notably, the men seeking vasectomies were younger than before, and a higher number of men without children requested information about the procedure. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/03/03/the-vasectomy-boom-after-dobbs-younger-men-are-stepping-up/

[PJMcK]

1. Good move

Freeze some sperm in case you want children in the future. Or not.

[snowybirdie]

2. Not if

The anti-IVF folks have anything to do with that.

[cbabe]

3. Good. Plus saying no to 18 yrs of child support.

[SarahD]

4. A relief to me.

My boyfriend of a long time ago got a vasectomy. He told me he was going to, but he didn't ask for my approval or permission. I asked him how he would feel if I changed my mind and wanted children. He said, "You said no kids and I believe you. If you change your mind, there are many men who will help you out." I thought that was a little unromantic, maybe even a little cold, but it was great being with somebody who took that responsibility himself instead of leaving it for me to deal with.

[LastDemocratInSC]

5. Just wait - soon we'll be hearing that a vasectomy thwarts god's holy plan for procreation and should be illegal.

[scarletlib]

6. That will be interesting.

How will men react to having their bodily autonomy stripped away

[LastDemocratInSC]

7. What's good for the goose will just anger the gander.

[scarletlib]

8. Absolutely.

Couldn’t agree more.