Researchers have observed a rise in surgical sterilization among women following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to revoke the constitutional right to abortion.
Recent findings from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons indicate that surgical sterilization rates for women in the United States increased after the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. This study was published on September 11 in JAMA.
Surgical sterilization, which involves procedures to tie, cut, or remove the fallopian tubes, is a reliable yet largely irreversible option for preventing pregnancy.
Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the U.S. had seen a decrease in surgical sterilization rates from a high point in the mid-1970s, largely because various effective reversible contraceptive options became more readily available.
The research analyzed surgical sterilization practices before and after the Dobbs ruling, focusing on about 4.8 million women across 36 states and Washington, D.C.
One month following the ruling, sterilization rates across all states in the study saw an uptick from previously stable rates over the last year and a half.
In the six months following the decision, surgical sterilizations consistently rose by 3% each month in states where abortion was banned after Dobbs. A similar trend, though not statistically significant, was noted in states that restricted abortion access, while no further growth in sterilization rates was seen in states that upheld abortion rights.
“Our study indicates that the Dobbs ruling and ensuing state laws that either ban or limit abortion could influence a woman’s contraceptive choices,” says Xiao Xu, the health outcomes researcher who led this study. “These findings deserve attention, given that tubal sterilization is a permanent form of contraception.”
Additional Information
The study entitled “Tubal Sterilization Rates by State Abortion Laws after the Dobbs Decision” was published on September 11 in JAMA.
Contributors include Xiao Xu (Columbia), Ling Chen (Columbia), Vrunda B. Desai (Yale), Cary P. Gross (Yale), Craig Evan Pollack (Johns Hopkins), Peter E. Schwartz (Yale), and Jason D. Wright (Columbia).
