‘Permanent contraception procedures’ soared after Dobbs decision: Research

Rates of people seeking permanent contraception spiked after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, new research shows.  

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Boston University looked at rates of tubal ligations and vasectomies among 18- to 30-year-olds between 2019 and 2022 using the TriNetX platform and compared them with 2022 to 2023 rates.  

That platform largely gathers data from academic medical centers and related clinics across the country. The findings were published Friday in a JAMA Health Forward research letter.  

Researchers found that tubal ligations increased to 58 procedures per 100,000 visits for females and vasectomies increased to 27 procedures per 100,000 patients for men. That was an increase of 2.84 procedures for women and 1.03 procedures for men.

This disparity reflects “the unequal burden of unwanted pregnancy,” said Jaqueline Ellison, assistant professor at The University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and lead author of the letter.  

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, 21 states have banned or imposed increased restrictions on abortion access.  

“What we see is reflecting increases in fear and anxiety among young people about restricted access to abortion after Dobbs,” said Ellison said about her research.  

“These changes in permanent contraception rates are really important to understand because they show how abortion bans affect people’s reproductive autonomy beyond abortion access.”  

While most people who undergo sterilization are happy with their decision, a small portion regret the decision later in life.  

About 5 percent of men who undergo vasectomies regret their decision in the future, according to the U.S. Centers and Disease Control and Prevention.  

There is not a clear consensus on how many women regret choosing permanent contraception. The CDC estimates that between 1 and 26 percent of women who choose sterilization regret their decision, with younger women more likely to have second thoughts than older women.  

One 1999 study found that about 20 percent of women who choose to be sterilized at 30 or younger regret the decision, compared to about 6 percent of women who underwent sterilization after age 30.