NEW YORK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A trend is growing across the United States with health experts predicting that more people will choose sterilization because of fears over restricted access to reproductive health care during a second Trump administration, reported The Washington Post on Wednesday.
Research showed a significant increase in vasectomies and tubal ligations in the months just before and after the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the 2022 decision that ended a constitutional right to abortion after nearly half a century.
A study in the journal Health Affairs this month found that from May to August 2022, vasectomies surged by 95 percent and tubal sterilizations by 70 percent among adults ages 19 to 26. Researchers used medical records to analyze procedure codes and found that states likely to ban abortions after Dobbs experienced a greater increase in permanent contraception procedures compared with states unlikely to implement bans.
The data tracked with that of a JAMA Health Forum research letter published this past spring, which noted a rise in permanent contraception procedures among adults ages 18 to 30 years following the ruling.
