CNN: Some Women ‘Opting for Sterilization’ Post-Roe

Some women are “opting for sterilization” as pro-life laws restricting abortion are passed around the country following the Supreme Court’s decision to overrule Roe v. Wade, CNN reported this week.

“Although there are no national statistics on whether more women have opted for sterilization because of legal cases limiting abortion rights, some doctors say they’ve recently seen an increase in requests for such procedures,” the left-leaning outlet reported. 

Dr. Leah Tatum, a spokesperson for the pro-abortion American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), who practices in Austin, Texas, told the outlet that “being concerned about access to abortion care has definitely driven up the request for sterilizations.” 

“I see about three times the consults for sterilization as I used to,” Tatum said. 

.@elizcohencnn talks with women and doctors about sterilization in post-Roe world pic.twitter.com/Z70rjs6pOE

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) May 17, 2023

CNN talked to several women who say they got themselves sterilized in response to pro-life laws restricting abortion:

In January, as a 28th birthday present to herself, Mariah Marsh got herself sterilized. Five months later, she says she’s very glad she did. Marsh has known since she was a teenager that she doesn’t want children. A few years ago, a diagnosis of myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease that can make pregnancy risky, further solidified her decision.

Marsh was reportedly not in a rush to get sterilized until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

“It scared me. I knew that the only way I could really protect myself is to go ahead and get the surgery,” she said. “It’s a surgery I knew I would always have. My timeline was pushed up by fear.”

Another woman, Dani Marietti, told the outlet she had her fallopian tubes removed about a month after the Dobbs decision. She works as a licensed clinical social worker in Montana, and while abortion is still legal in the state through the second trimester of pregnancy, Marietti said she is worried abortion could be restricted in the future.

Marietti said she is “even more confident in [her] decision” given that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the abortion pill is the subject of a high-stakes lawsuit.