American men seek vasectomies ‘as an act of love’ in the face of pro-life legislation

One man compared getting a vasectomy to the Covid vaccination. "The procedure was a total relief, almost like the covid shot — like I’m safe now," Andy Gress said. "I wanted to man up." Gress and his wife Erin already had four children, and he made the appointment on "World Vasectomy Day."

Florida urologist Doug Stein is locally known as the "Vasectomy King" because he plasters ads for his services on billboards, coasters, and at child support offices in the state. Stein calls vasectomies "an act of love" for women, and "the ultimate way to be a good man," according to the Washington Post.

It wasn't just that Gress and his wife had enough children and didn't like other forms of birth control. Gress said that getting a vasectomy was a way to support women as more and more US states create laws to prohibit pregnancy termination.

"I’ve seen the miracle of life," he said. "But I've also seen kids who are born into poverty and misery and don’t have a fair shot."

Another man looked to have a "vasectomy passport" from his doctor so he could prove to his wife that he was no longer capable of reproduction.

In response to some of the laws restricting abortion, Democrat legislators have begun to enact laws to hold fathers accountable for creating children. This is something that they believe is an edgy pushback, but is actually exactly what GOP lawmakers would want as well: men and women to be responsible for their reproduction.

Pennsylvania's state Rep. Chris Rabb, a Democrat, proposed a "wrongful conception" bill that would hold a man accountable for "demonstrated negligence toward preventing conception during intercourse."

The bill would also require mandatory vasectomies for men over the age of 40, or who have already fathered three children, "whichever comes first." Women would be able to take civil action against those who wrongfully impregnate them during the act of sex which is the means by which humans reproduce.

A Texas doctor at the Austin Urology Institute said there was a recent uptick in men seeking vasectomies. After Texas passed a law limiting abortions past 6 weeks gestation, 15 percent more men scheduled vasectomy appointments.

A family doctor in Boston, Sarah Miller, said "It's outrageous that we don't have more contraceptive options for people with man parts."

"There’s even a misguided sense that birth control is not a man’s job. That men can’t be trusted, or that they would never be interested, and that has led to lack of funding and development," Miller said.

As opposition to abortion heats up in the US, and the Supreme Court is deciding on a case that could overturn the long-standing Roe v. Wade decision, some men have been speaking up in favor of abortion.

A notable contribution to the male pro-abortion literature was an op ed by Kaivan Shroff who said that, at 28 years old, "it would be a terrible time to have a baby."

He writes that "men like me have also long been the direct beneficiaries of safe abortion access," because women aren't forced to carry the children the men who impregnated them don't want.

Shroff notes that he's "often relied" on his sexual partners to "protect me from unwanted pregnancy," and was glad when women took Plan B pills after unprotected sex with him.

He fears the lack of abortion access for women because he doesn't want the responsibility of fatherhood. He writes that "men should serve as allies in defending women's bodily autonomy." Shroff did not mention vasectomies in his op ed.