Permanent contraception boomed after Roe v Wade was overturned, research shows
In the months after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, permanent contraception in the form of Rates of tubal sterilization and vasectomy increased among young adults living in states likely to ban abortions, new research released Monday showed.
Compared to May 2022, when the opinion overturning Roe leaked, 95% more vasectomies and 70% more tubal sterilizations were performed in people between the ages of 19 and 26 in August 2022, according to the study, which was conducted by researchers from George Washington University College. University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan.
In addition to analyzing data on medical visits for permanent contraception before and after the advisory leaked, the researchers also examined survey responses from more than 600 people between the ages of 14 and 24 who were asked about the fall of Roe.
“It made me want to be sterilized more often,” said a 24-year-old female survey respondent the USA south. “The pill is not 100% effective and I am afraid of losing access to it. I don’t want children in the future and would much rather be sterilized. I am afraid of becoming pregnant and no longer being able to make my own decisions.”
The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, also found that tubal sterilizations – which surgically alter women’s fallopian tubes and popularly known because “tube tying” – was more popular than vasectomies. Approximately seven more tubal sterilizations were performed per state per month in the second half of 2022, compared to roughly three vasectomies per month per state.
That popularity likely reflects the long-standing expectation that women shoulder the burden of contraception. But Julia Strasser, the study’s lead author, suspects there may be other reasons as well.
“My guess is that this is because people, who may pursue these methods because they fear they will no longer have access to abortion services, may feel like they want to be the ones protecting rather than trusting their own kind of bodily autonomy. on a partner,” says Strasser, who is also director of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.
Tuesday’s survey is the only recent evidence indicating that more people sought permanent contraception in the wake of Roe’s collapse. Last year, another study also found that the number of people under 30 undergoing tubal ligations and vasectomies increased after Roe fell. However, that study did not break down the findings by state.
To analyze patient interest in permanent contraception, Strasser and her co-authors relied on data from the health information company IQVIA, which broke out patient visits for permanent contraception in 2021 and 2022. Rather than examining states that enacted abortion bans after Roe, the researchers split states into those that were thought to be likely to ban abortion and those that were likely to protect it. Fear of a possible ban, they reasoned, could make someone want permanent contraception.
The study may actually underestimate post-Roe demand for permanent contraception among young adults, Strasser said, because it focused on individuals who actually underwent tubal sterilizations and vasectomies. Even when they are certain they do not want children, young people often have difficulty finding medical providers willing to perform these services for them.
“We don’t want them looking for them out of fear or concern for their safety,” Strasser said. “But I also think it’s important to recognize that young people, young adults, have autonomy over their choices around contraception and reproductive health.”