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GOP
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Sometimes political events have political consequences. The Dobbs decision may have cost the Republicans dozens of seats in the House and maybe a few governorships and state legislatures as well. That is somewhat predictable. But Politico has discovered a somewhat related but completely unexpected side effect of Dobbs: the number of vasectomies is surging.
Men who don't want to be fathers and were always counting on abortion as a backstop if they got someone pregnant have suddenly come to realize that option may not always be there. In many states, it is already gone. So by visiting their local vasectomy clinic they are only a couple of snips away from not having to worry about that.
Physician Esgar Guarín is trying to make that easier. He has a mobile clinic and an agreement with Planned Parenthood that allows him to park it in the parking lot of their clinics and open for business. The 24-foot, 11,000-lb vehicle has gone viral as "the nutcracker." On the side in giant letters is his slogan: "One small snip for a man, one giant leap for humankind(ness)." He provides services to liberals, conservatives and, naturally, men who are strongly opposed to abortion. He charges $699 for the procedure, about half of what many doctors charge, and allows patients to sign up online. This makes it easier for some men who don't want to talk to a (female) receptionist to schedule the procedure. Guarín has done over 3,000 of the procedures and is still going strong. One of his first was on himself, on camera. He also trains other doctors how to perform the procedure.
He will take on any man above 18 but first asks them if they have done sperm banking because reversing the procedure is difficult and has mixed results. Of course, for a man of 45 who has seven children already there are different issues than for an 18-year-old kid who just wants to have some fun with no consequences.
The spike in vasectomies is a result of a spike in conversations among romantic partners about contraception and whose responsibility is it. No doubt the Dobbs decision was the accelerant here since with abortion no longer available in around half the states, the need to avoid pregnancy has become much more acute for many couples. For some couples, vasectomy is a relatively cheap and foolproof solution. (V)