MISHAWAKA, Ind — A month after Indiana's statewide abortion ban went into effect, Planned Parenthood is moving forward on a plan to provide more vasectomy services across the state, and will now offer the procedure at a clinic in northern Indiana.
Planned Parenthood will launch vasectomy services at the Mishawaka Health Center in October, and plans to schedule appointments as early as this week. The services will mark the second such location in the state, as the Hammond Health Clinic started providing low-cost, accessible vasectomy services in February 2023.
"Vasectomies allow sperm-producing patients to relieve some of the pressure of pregnancy scares by giving back control to their partners who can become pregnant. It’s an act of protection. It’s an act of love," CEO Rebecca Gibbons said in a statement.
The push for easier access to vasectomies for men comes as a new batch of studies suggest they are turning to the procedure more than ever after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision rolled back federal abortion protections.
Researchers with the Cleveland Clinic noted a sharp uptick in wait times for vasectomies after the Dobbs decision. On a hunch, they conducted an official study that, in part, analyzed hospital billing data to show there was indeed a notable increase in vasectomy procedures since the fall of Roe.
"What we noticed was that during the period leading up to, and right after, the appeal of Roe v. Wade, there was a significant increase in the number of vasectomy consults, and vasectomies that our institution was performing," said Dr. Scott Lundy, a urologist with the Cleveland Clinic. "We think this because is men are taking their health and reproductive decisions and taking responsibility for that, which we believe is important, because it's a two-sided coin."
Following the appeal of Roe v. Wade, vasectomies went up by a factor of two.
"Not only could we see this in the numbers, but we can feel it, too. Our patients are waiting longer to get vasectomies. We are doing more vasectomies. They are very much at the forefront of our practice," said Lundy, who was involved with the study.
Especially those under 30 or without children, who consulted with their doctors about vasectomies. Lundy said the longer wait times and increased interest in getting a vasectomy persists, but they have yet to conduct a follow-up study on those numbers.
"We do believe that some of the increase will be long term, because of increased awareness about the procedure. And increased knowledge about it," Lundy said.
Vasectomies have a 99.9% success rate in preventing pregnancies. For men, taking control of their reproductive freedom in a way that effectively prevents pregnancy is nearly impossible without a vasectomy.
“The only highly effective method would be vasectomy. Condoms can be an effective method, but in real use their actual efficacy isn’t highly effective,” said Dr. John De Caro, a urologist who also sits on the board for the Male Contraceptive Initiative, an advocacy group based in North Carolina that works to increase education and access to male contraceptives.
De Caro believes cultural attitudes, rooted in a belief that people who can become pregnant should be tasked with taking control of reproduction, leads to a lack of funding and support for exploring pathways to other forms of male birth control.
"We generally, in our society, have not held men responsible for handling unplanned pregnancies - we see this clinically. Women are routinely asked what they use to prevent unplanned pregnancies and counseled on their options. The same does not exist for men, or people who can produce sperm," De Caro said.
That's even as men, experts who spoke with 13News reiterated, increasingly seem to want to take control of their reproductive health and prevent pregnancy through procedures newly unavailable to their partners.
Some myths persist about what men can experience during a vasectomy, Lundy said. Some patients believe their testicles will be removed, that they'll never experience an erection again. or will get prostate cancer if they have the procedure.
None of that's true and, aside from being a relatively simple procedure, vasectomies are an effective choice for men seeking a permanent birth control option.
"It's got extremely good outcomes, so we think it's a really good option for these couples," Lundy said.
Vasectomy procedures normally take under 30 minutes. According to the Mayo Clinic, the surgery usually takes 10-30 minutes. A doctor will take the following steps:
- Numb the surgery area by injecting a local anesthetic into the skin of your scrotum with a small needle.
- Make a small cut (incision) in the upper part of your scrotum once the surgery area is numb. Or with the "no-scalpel" technique, make a small puncture in the scrotum instead of an incision.
- Locate the tube that carries semen from your testicle (vas deferens).
- Withdraw part of the vas deferens through the incision or puncture.
- Cut the vas deferens where it has been pulled out of the scrotum.
- Seal the vas deferens by tying it, using heat (cauterizing), surgical clips or a combination of methods. Then your doctor will return the ends of the vas deferens to the scrotum.
- Close the incision at the surgery area. Stitches or glue may be used. In some cases, the wound may be left to close on its own over time.
The recovery process usually takes around 48-hours.
Getting a vasectomy can cost anywhere between $0 and $1,000, including follow-up visits, according to Planned Parenthood.