With abortion access limited, Planned Parenthood turns to offering vasectomies

BurnAfterEating420 · 2024-03-04T04:54:29+00:00

So they just now realized men are parents too?

neemptabhag · 2024-03-04T04:03:04+00:00

Vasectomies are almost permanent - men should not be shamed or pressured by their abusive female partners into surgeries they are not comfortable with. End of story.

There are much better forms of contraception : condoms, copper IUD, sponges, cervical caps, diaphragms.

Splycr · 2024-03-04T02:01:04+00:00

Article:

"On the last day of July in 2023, Planned Parenthood performed its final abortion in the state of Indiana. It was the day before the state would begin enforcing a near-total abortion ban, with very narrow exceptions, after a year of legal battles that followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to end the constitutional right to abortion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case. Before the Dobbs decision, which effectively allowed every state to set its own abortion laws, four Planned Parenthood clinics in Indiana provided abortion services once a week. Today, abortions are no longer an option.

Deborah Nucatola, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, told Salon the abortion ban was especially devastating. Indiana had briefly served as a haven for out-of-state patients, such as those from Kentucky, whose access to abortion services was immediately restricted after Dobbs. Indiana became a “surge state,” serving many patients who were traveling from elsewhere, even while providers knew they would eventually had to cease their services.

That was extremely difficult, Nucatola said. “We went from feeling like we were helping so many people from so many places to feeling like our hands were tied, and there wasn't a lot we could do. So we’re constantly evaluating ways that we can help support patients, whether it's helping facilitate them getting abortion services in other places to providing services that can prevent undesired pregnancies.”

The next logical step, Indiana providers decided, was to focus on male reproductive health. In February, the Planned Parenthood affiliate announced it would offer vasectomy services at three locations across the state, including one in Fort Wayne, with plans to expand to Georgetown by late March. The affiliate also has plans to add additional vasectomy services in southern Indiana and Kentucky over the next six months. Nucatola said that by offering vasectomies, Planned Parenthood is adding to its contraceptive “toolbox” and offering more options to prevent unwanted pregnancies in a post-Dobbs world.

“It’s just adding to the list of contraceptive services that we provide,” she said. “It's a small but important option for folks to have.”

"We went from feeling like we were helping so many people from so many places to feeling like our hands were tied. So we’re constantly evaluating ways that we can help support patients [and] prevent undesired pregnancies."

After what she describes as a “very long year,” Nucatola said the expansion of vasectomy services has made the affiliate's staff feel as if they are better able to support Indiana families in making their own decisions about fertility and reproduction.

“It’s kind of a ray of light” in an otherwise darkening landscape, she added. “We're still seeing patients who are seeking abortion care, and we're helping them navigate to those services, but it's challenging not being able to provide them directly at our health centers.”

This expansion of vasectomy services in Indiana speaks to a nationwide increase in interest in the procedure following the Dobbs decision. Immediately after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Google saw the highest volume of searches for “vasectomy” in the past five years. Last year, preliminary data found a significant uptick in vasectomy consultations. According to the International Journal of Impotence Research, there was a 35 percent increase in vasectomy consultation requests and a 22.4 percent increase in actual vasectomy consultations after the Dobbs decision. Notably, the men seeking vasectomies were younger than before, and a higher number of men without children requested information about the procedure.

At the moment, vasectomies are the only FDA-approved birth control option for men, and are regarded as easy and safe surgical procedures. During the operation, a doctor cuts or seals the tubes that carry a male’s sperm, which can permanently prevent pregnancy. Usually the procedure can be carried out under local anesthetic, meaning the person is awake, and takes only about 15 minutes. At the Indiana Planned Parenthood clinics, the procedure costs $800 out of pocket — but can also be covered by Medicaid and many private insurance plans. The national average cost for a vasectomy is $1,000, but depending on insurance coverage and whether it's performed in a doctor’s office or surgical center, can cost up to $3,000.

Planned Parenthood clinics in Indiana are by no means alone in seeking to make vasectomies more accessible in light of widespread restrictions on abortion. Under a new California law that took effect in January, state residents covered by Medi-Cal can get vasectomies with no charge. There have also been smaller, more localized, efforts. A mobile Planned Parenthood clinic offered free vasectomies in Missouri last year. When a Planned Parenthood clinic in Oklahoma offered free vasectomies, all the available spots were filled in less than 48 hours.

Dr. Sarah Vij, co-author of the data study published in the the International Journal of Impotence Research and an assistant professor of urology at Cleveland Clinic, told Salon that vasectomies are widely accessible, at least in states with reasonable health care options. In most cases, the procedure is covered by health insurance, although there are exceptions — some faith-based organizations object to the procedure and won’t pay it. Since access may vary greatly from state to state, she said, it makes sense for Planned Parenthood clinics to offer vasectomies more widely.

“Wherever there's demand, we need to be sure that we're offering it, and we need to be sure that patients are properly educated,” Vij said. For people who are "done" having children or don't want them, "it's a reasonable option," she continued. "It's not for everybody, but it's at least an option that everybody should know exists.”

Nucatola, from the Planned Parenthood clinic in Indiana, said that adding a new contraceptive method to a clinic's services amounts to providing more autonomy to the community it serves. “The more tools you have in your toolbox, the more you're able to help people choose what's best for them and their families to build the families that they want to build,” she said.

One benefit of making vasectomies more accessible is to ease the burden of birth control being placed on women. “Partners are realizing that women shouldn’t be the only ones with birth control in their cabinets, or in their bodies.”

Both doctors noted that one benefit of making vasectomies more accessible is to ease the burden of birth control being placed largely or entirely on women.

“Partners are realizing that women shouldn’t be the only ones with birth control in their cabinets, or in their bodies,” Rebecca Gibron, CEO of the Planned Parenthood affiliate that includes Indiana, said in a media statement. “Many men concerned for their partners’ reproductive rights and health are finding vasectomy as a solution."

Anecdotally, Vij told Salon this has been true in her own practice. She has personally seen an increased number of younger men without children seeking vasectomies. Before Dobbs, her typical patient was a man with kids who didn’t want more.

“Dobbs affected men and how they view reproduction,” Vij said. “I think the male is impacted, and I think that's often an ignored piece of this whole discussion when we talk about abortion care ”"

klafhofshi · 2024-03-04T05:41:27+00:00

Your bodies, your choices, brothers. Don't ever let yourself be pressured into a vasectomy by a partner. Don't listen to lies floating around that it can always be reversed or that there no complications or risks. No one who truly loves you would ever try to coerce you into going under the knife for their own selfish convenience.

Only get a vasectomy done on your own fully independent and totally self-assured decision making. Only get it done if you are 100% sure you will never want children, and assume that it's not reversible, because in your case, it might not be.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/vasectomy-reversal/about/pac-20384537

Pregnancy rates after vasectomy reversal will range from about 30% to over 90%, depending on the type of procedure. Many factors affect whether a reversal is successful in achieving pregnancy, including time since a vasectomy, partner age, surgeon experience and training, and whether you had fertility issues before your vasectomy.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/vasectomy-reversal/about/pac-20384537

Depending on how many years have passed since your vasectomy, your success rates are 60% to 95% for return of sperm in your ejaculate. Pregnancy is possible more than 50% of the time after a reversal. However, success rates start to decline 15 years after a vasectomy.

https://www.healthline.com/health/vasectomy-reversal

Your chances of getting your partner pregnant after reversing a vasectomy can range from 30 to 70 percent. Your chances of a successful reversal may be lower if it’s been over 10 years since your vasectomy.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/vasectomy/about/pac-20384580

Delayed complications can include:

Chronic pain, which can happen for 1% to 2% of people who have surgery

Fluid buildup in the testicle, which can cause a dull ache that gets worse with ejaculation

Inflammation caused by leaking sperm (granuloma)

Pregnancy, in the event that your vasectomy fails, which is rare.

An abnormal cyst (spermatocele) that develops in the small, coiled tube located on the upper testicle that collects and transports sperm (epididymis)

A fluid-filled sac (hydrocele) surrounding a testicle that causes swelling in the scrotum

If you just want temporary contraception, use condoms, and only ever use your own that you brought yourself so they haven't been tampered with with holes poked in them, and always be sure to wash the condoms out with hot water in a sink after use.

michaelpaoli · 2024-03-04T04:54:17+00:00

My body my choice. If you want permanent birth control, it's a very good option. But if that's not what you want, look for something else. So, yeah, want to be sure you never get anyone pregnant - it's a very good option. If you do or may want to be a father some day - pick something else. Planned Parenthood is about options - whether that's preventing pregnancy, terminating pregnancy, how to get pregnant when that's what one wants ... they pretty much cover it all - a quite excellent service.

psychosythe · 2024-03-04T16:38:37+00:00

Why weren't they already doing that?

omegaphallic · 2024-03-04T04:57:19+00:00

Perhaps this goes to show that abortion rights are a men's rights issue too, by screwing over women,the Supreme Court screwed over men as well.

ESComments · 2024-03-04T06:18:19+00:00

In antiquity, they would castrate males of conquered populations to humiliate them and cull their genes from the pool. Now they get men to do it to themselves..

IlIIlIIIlIl · 2024-03-04T08:28:31+00:00

Vasectomies are PERMANENT even when they say they can be reversed. Beware!

If you have an IUD, it's next to impossible to get pregnant. It cost me $30 to have one inserted.

Current_Finding_4066 · 2024-03-04T07:07:43+00:00

Damn, which idiot came up with idea that vasectomy is a good way to plan having kids? They should be jailed. There is a solid chance you are not going to have kids due to complications. Let the women use contraception, as they have much safer options on hand.

LeroyNash99 · 2024-03-04T14:13:22+00:00

I just got one for free from there after having my 2nd child but it was of my own volition. I rather not risk anymore children and have put that into my own hands.

As as far pregnancies goes it takes 2 to tangle(unless we're talking rape) so the argument that well you should just have a vasectomy if you don't want kids can be flipped around to birth control for women.

The reality is the system is fucked for us. Unwanted pregnancy for a man? Oh well you just have to deal with it, even if you aren't ready or don't want it while the women gets free reign to decide to get rid of it for ANY reason. I'm done with further participation.

Angryasfk · 2024-03-04T09:02:13+00:00

Oh the “burden of birth control” canard again!

Firstly this is DEEPLY misleading in the context of “the snip”. Apart from the highly unlikely scenario where the doctor botched the job, there is no reason why the woman in the relationship would need to take the pill and carry her share of “the burden” unless, or course, she was looking elsewhere! Vasectomies are sterilisation. Not contraception. Talk about “sharing the burden” is a sick joke in this context.

Secondly the whole point of the pill is to give women the “right to choose”. Which means that a woman can go off the pill when she decides she’d like to have a child! She has no such choice if the guy has had the snip! Unless, of course, it’s to sleep around!

Finally, the obvious thing would be to organise additional services and cut price return bus services for women to cross to states with relaxed abortion laws. Unless this lot give a “vasectomy disc” the guy can produce on demand, how on earth would any girl know for sure?

ithinkoutloudtoo · 2024-03-04T06:34:40+00:00

No thanks. She can get her tubes tied instead. I’m not going to get a vasectomy, especially for a chick that could easily drop me and bounce at the drop of a hat.

Fishdude94 · 2024-03-04T10:44:13+00:00

If people want vasectomies, let them get vasectomies. I've been trying for over 8 years and they always tell me "not until you're 30" I'm not 30 and haven't had the chance to ask yet.

sanitaryinspector · 2024-03-04T07:35:14+00:00

For any easily outraged feminist scrolling through:

Imagine that, as a woman, you had to get sterilised in your early 20s to avoid any chance of having to carry and raise a child you didn't want, that had been conceived without your reproductive consent or even with violence, because you don't want to sacrifice your 20s to care for another human instead of travelling, learning and having fun.

Then, 12 years later, you've been together with the love of your life for years, you're about to marry, you want to set up a family and he wants to be the father of your child, so you go to a clinic to undo your sterilisation and... poof! it can't be undone after so long. So you ask yourself what was the point of it, since by the time you want a child it'll be impossible to conceive it.

mozaiq83 · 2024-03-04T12:39:15+00:00

They're really trying to control population. They're not even hiding it anymore

fasterpastor2 · 2024-03-05T04:24:44+00:00

I thought abortion was only a small fraction of what they do? Why would they be scrambling to find other revenue sources?

ESComments · 2024-03-04T06:12:13+00:00

I can't respect any man that chooses to physically emasculate themselves.

kabuto_mushi · 2024-03-04T08:37:57+00:00

I'm getting one because I have zero idea why anyone who hasn't been tremendously lucky or successful early in life would willingly have kids to begin with. I'm happy to hear this tbh.

Mother_Ad_4309 · 2024-03-04T05:00:12+00:00

Didnt even know what the word was, had to look it up, TIL I guess

Valkorion58 · 2024-03-04T04:26:26+00:00

I'd rather get one then deal with an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy

Title	With abortion access limited, Planned Parenthood turns to offering vasectomies
Author	Splycr
Upvotes	384
Comments	244
Date	March 4, 2024 2:00 AM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1b5yxdy/with_abortion_access_limited_planned_parenthood/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/with-abortion-access-limited-planned-parenthood.1247013 https://theredarchive.com/post/1247013

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