In 2022, the Supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade which eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion for pregnant people. After the ruling, the number of vasectomy consultations and procedures increased. 

In the first six months after the Dobbs decision, vasectomy rates nationwide increased nearly 60% in men under 30 years old, according to Planned Parenthood of Michigan. Abortions are legal in Michigan. But renewed interest in vasectomies still prompted the healthcare provider to announce plans in January to resume its vasectomy services—ten years after the organization suspended the procedure because they did not have the resources to support it. 

Vasectomies are just one small part of the larger umbrella that makes up reproductive health, so the growing interest among men to undergo the procedure doesn’t necessarily mean men understand more about reproductive health overall.  

Dominick Shattuck, a community psychologist, a men’s health fellow at the American Institute for Boys and Men, and faculty member in the OBGYN department of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, joins the show to discuss how men can take on a larger role in reproductive health.

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