Vasectomies and tubal ligation procedures increased after Roe overturned, study finds

(CN) — The political effects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that revoked the constitutional right to abortions were immediately obvious as many states all across the country quickly criminalized the procedure and made it harder for millions to access reproductive health services.

But researchers at the University of Pittsburgh wanted to know the answer to a more medical question: what was the effect of the court’s decision on young people wanting to get vasectomies and tubal ligation and sterilization procedures?

They found in their study published in JAMA Health Forum on Friday that there was an abrupt increase in young adults getting permanent contraception procedures following the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

“The abrupt increase in permanent contraception rates may indicate a policy-induced change in contraceptive preferences. Dobbs may have also increased a sense of urgency among individuals who were interested in permanent contraception before the decision. Changes in contraceptive decision-making must be considered to understand the short- and long-term implications of Dobbs on reproductive autonomy,” the researchers write in the study.

Using medical record data from academic medical centers and their affiliated clinics, researchers compared monthly aggregate counts of tubal ligations and vasectomies procedures per 100,000 people per month between the ages of 18 and 30 both before and after Dobbs.

Researchers also report that after the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the number of tubal sterilization increased twice as high as the number of vasectomies. 

“These patterns offer insights into the gendered dynamics of permanent contraceptive use and may reflect the disproportionate health, social and economic consequences of compulsory pregnancy on women and people with the capacity to become pregnant,” the researchers write in the study.

Tubal sterilization and ligation procedures are more complex and can be vastly more expensive than vasectomies, Jacqueline Ellison, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburg’s Department of Health Policy and Management at the Pitt School of Public Health, and the lead author of the study, said in a statement.

Reversing a tubal ligation procedure requires major surgery, while vasectomy reversal is much less complicated, she added.

“The major difference in patterns of these two procedures likely reflects the fact that young women are overwhelmingly responsible for preventing pregnancy and disproportionately experience the health, social and economic consequences of abortion bans,” Ellison wrote.

The study is the first to investigate the status of post-Roe contraceptive procedures. However, due to the limitations of the data the researchers obtained for their study, the researchers were unable to assess the potential effects of individual state’s abortion policies.

The researchers were also unable to look into the different experiences for disabled, low-income, or immigrant women, or for women of color, who can all experience different kinds of interference and coercion in their decisions around contraceptives, they add. 

"Experiences of seeking out and obtaining permanent contraception are highly racialized, and we are currently looking at how permanent contraception changes varied across race and ethnicity," Ellison added.

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