By Brianna Lyman
A Texas doctor said his practice has seen a nearly 15% increase in vasectomies as men try to push back against the state’s abortion law, The Washington Post (WaP0) reported Sunday.
Koushik Shaw, a doctor who practices at the Austin Urology Institute, told WaPo his practice saw a roughly 15% increase in scheduled vasectomies following the state’s Sept. 1 abortion ban.
Shaw told the outlet patients are coming in, saying “‘Hey, I’m actually here because some of these changes that [Gov. Greg] Abbott and our legislature have passed that are really impacting our decision-making in terms of family planning,’ so that was a new one for me as a reason – the first time, patients are citing a state law as their motivating factor.”
The law effectively bans most abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which occurs around six weeks after conception. (RELATED: FDA To Allow Providers To Send Abortion Pills By Mail)
Protesters organized by NYC for abortion rights demonstrate outside Saint Pauls Roman Catholic Church in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City, on October 9, 2021. – ( KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
Texas clinics aren’t the only places seeing men choose vasectomies, with Florida urologist Doug Stein marketing the procedure as “an act of Love” for their partners and “the ultimate way to be a good man,” according to the WaPo.
Boston family medicine doctor Sarah Miller referred to the “trend” as “remarkable … in the family planning community of recognizing and promoting vasectomy and birth control for men,” according to the report.
“It warms my heart to hear men say, ‘I am so nervous, but I know this is NOTHING compared to what my wife has gone through,’” Stein told the WaPo.
Stein and family medicine doctor Esgar Guarín even launched a “Responsible Men’s Clubs” chat for men who have had the procedure can share information about their sexual performance and explain how it “doesn’t take away their manhood, but in fact makes them a better man,” Guarín reportedly said.
Vasectomies are more than 99.9% effective in preventing pregnancies and can be reversed in most cases, according to the Cleveland Clinic. More than 500,000 vasectomies are performed each year in the U.S., according to the UNC School of Medicine.
