Men are rushing to get vasectomies after the Supreme Court’s controversial Roe v. Wade abortion decision, doctors say.
Doug Stein, a Florida urologist known as the “Vasectomy King,” told the Washington Post that he was getting up to 18 requests a day — a significant increase from the typical four or five.
“It was very, very noticeable Friday, and then the number that came in over the weekend was huge, and the number that’s still coming in far exceeds what we’ve experienced in the past,” Stein said.
Many of the men said they had been considering vasectomy for a long time, but Stein said Roe v. Wade served as the “final factor” in their decision.
Stein is already booked through the end of August with appointments – and has even had to add more days to her schedule to accommodate the demand. Stein’s associate, John Currington, said Roe v. Wade was a large factor in the jump.
“I would say at least 60 to 70 percent mention the Supreme Court decision,” he told the Washington Post. “And some of them have such sophistication as young men that they actually think about justice [Clarence] Thomas and his opinion that contraception may fall next. And that’s shocking.”
One urologist in New York, meanwhile, told the outlet that he typically sees twice as many patients a week for vasectomy reversals.
“Now it’s the opposite,” said Mark Goldstein, director of the Center for Male Reproductive Medicine and Microsurgery at Weill Cornell Medical Center. “So it was a dramatic change. And this [decision] it will only further impact this in terms of increasing requests.”
Thomas Figueroa, 27, knew he never wanted children, but he got the motivation he needed to get the procedure last Friday when a 49-year-old historic decision that legalized abortion in the US was overturned, leaving the controversial issue of each of the 50 states.
“It’s something that I put in the back of my mind until very recently when the Supreme Court decision happened,” Figueroa told the paper. “That was actually the trigger right there. It made my mind go, “Okay, I really don’t want kids. I’m going to get that vasectomy now.”
Figueroa, of Tampa, wasted little time — he signed up for the procedure with Stein on Monday after last week’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
Like Figueroa, Eric Nissi, 29, always knew he didn’t want children, as did his girlfriend Amanda Omelian, 33, who is already on two forms of birth control. Despite those contraceptives, Nissi made an appointment for a vasectomy on Tuesday, he said.
Nissi said he didn’t want his girlfriend to “stress out about getting pregnant” because of a possible lack of access to birth control in the coming months.
“The world is a scary place and you don’t know what’s coming because it seems like we’re moving backwards,” Nissi told the paper.
Figueroa said he’s glad he took action, but feels like he was forced to act.
“It’s probably one of the very, very rare things in politics that actually affects me very personally and very strongly,” he said. “It really woke my eyes up.”
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