Pro-abortion women in many parts of the country have been in a perpetual state of panic since the Supreme Court announced its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturns Roe v. Wade. Those in states that have banned abortion have been hit the hardest, with demand for abortion pills now sky-high. But according to the New York Post, this post-Roe era has some women—and men—thinking outside the box.
Olivia Downs, 22, went viral on TikTok last month for relaying how her appointment with her gynecologist went after she asked to have her tubes tied.
The doctor reportedly lectured her about how she could meet "Mr. Right" and change her mind and the procedure is permanent.
"Yeah, I know. That's why I asked," she said in a retelling of the conversation.
@lvdwns Got the death sentence today #childfree #gyno #birthcontrol #ewkidsaregross ? original sound - Olivia Downs
Downs isn't alone in wanting to remove any possibility of becoming pregnant—even at such a young age.
According to Newsweek, Google searches for female sterilization "shot up" across the U.S. in the week after the Supreme Court leak showing Roe would be overturned.
For Downs, who attends college in Massachusetts and is wary of taking hormonal birth control due to the possible side effects, the Supreme Court’s decision has created additional urgency around getting the procedure done.
“It does kind of scare me a little bit,” she said of Justice Clarence Thomas’s majority opinion. “This is definitely something that I would want to get done sooner rather than later, considering the way this country is moving right now.”
Tubal ligation — in which the fallopian tubes are cut or tied — is one of several surgical sterilization procedures, including salpingectomy (removal of the fallopian tubes) and hysterectomy (removal of the uterus), that women can undergo for a multitude of health reasons and as a form of permanent birth control.
Janessa Puckett has been inquiring about a tubal ligation since she was 23 years old.
Now nearly 30, and living in Louisville, Kentucky — a state with an abortion trigger law — Puckett told The Post that she is angling to get the procedure done as soon as possible.
“I’m just one of many people for which the fire under our collective a– has been fanned in such a violent, visceral way,” she said.
Puckett works as a middle school English teacher and loves children but has never wanted her own. In fact, she said giving birth and being forced to be a parent are her biggest fears.
“I have all these life plans and getting pregnant would be the one thing that would mess all of that up,” she said. “Having a tubal ligation is a life necessity as far as ensuring that I continue living and can live the life I want to live.” (New York Post)
It's not just women interested in sterilization, either. More men are also getting vasectomies after the Supreme Court decision.
Dr. Alex Shteynshlyuger, director of urology at New York Urology Specialists, said his Manhattan practice has been deluged with vasectomy requests for roughly a month after a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked in early May.
“I think that raised awareness about vasectomies as one of the options for permanent contraception and that led a lot of men and couples to seek them,” Shteynshlyuger told The Post Friday. “There’s a lot of interest.”
Shteynshlyuger said his office usually gets 60 online requests for vasectomies per month. But staffers fielded inquiries from 72 patients during a 10-day period ending Thursday, he said.
“So in one week, we got more than we typically get in a month,” Shteynshlyuger said. (New York Post)
While doctors are concerned about young people seeking sterilization given its permanency, a recent study found a little over 10 percent of women expressed regret about their decision.
