HOW TO AVOID MURDERING AN INNOCENT UNBORN CHILD - Study: Vasectomies Rose 26% in 7 Years Before Dobbs Decision

 

Study: Vasectomies Rose 26% in 7 Years Before Dobbs Decision

Getty Images/Gary John Norman

KATHERINE HAMILTON

1 Sep 20230

4:55

The number of men who had vasectomies increased 26 percent between 2014 and 2021, a new study from researchers at the University of Chicago found. 

The researchers — who said the findings reflect a “remarkable surge” — decided to look into the subject in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision to see if anticipation of abortion restrictions increased interest in vasectomies in the preceding years. Vasectomies are a form of male birth control that “cuts the supply of sperm to semen,” according to the Mayo Clinic. The procedure is done by cutting and sealing the tubes that carry sperm. Vasectomies are considered permanent, but vasectomy reversals are sometimes possible.

Researchers used commercial health insurance claims data to calculate the annual vasectomy rate among U.S. men between the ages of 18-64. The study found that the percentage of all male patients undergoing the procedure in a given year increased from 0.427 percent in 2014 to 0.537 percent in 2021, a 26 percent increase.

Interestingly, the study found that the relative increases were greatest in men with no children (61 percent), men with an older wife (41 percent), single men (41 percent), and young men 18 to 24 (37 percent).

The absolute changes were greatest in men with three or more children (0.489 percent), with two children (0.295 percent), with a wife not of advanced maternal age (0.276 percent), and those ages 35-44 (0.243 percent). The absolute and relative changes were greater in rural geographies compared to urban geographies, the study found.

The authors noted that the absolute numbers among the general population remains low, with roughly 4 percent of men reporting undergoing sterilization.

The researchers said they intend to investigate post-Dobbs trends as soon as data becomes available.

“Google Trends analyses, media outlets and retrospective reviews of billing and electronic medical records from academic hospitals have suggested even greater interest in vasectomies after the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” wrote the study’s authors.

Abortion giant Planned Parenthood said in October of 2022 that it had seen a 53 percent increase in vasectomy information searches on its national web page. Affiliates of Planned Parenthood around the country have also said they are experiencing a surge in calls about the procedure since the Supreme Court returned the issue of abortion to states and their elected representatives. The abortion giant is offering the procedure in many states around the country, sometimes employing “mobile vasectomy clinics” or offering the procedure free to uninsured men.  

Data from Google Trends also shows a spike in interest in vasectomies after the Dobbs decision last June, although the number of search results has since stabilized. 

“While survey and health insurance claims data from 2022 are not yet available to directly study this relationship, our findings offer valuable context on permanent contraceptive utilization in men in the years leading up to the landmark decision,” said Dr. Omer Raheem, assistant professor of surgery-urology and the senior author of the study.

Dr. Monica Dragoman, system director of the complex family planning division in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive science at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, told UPI that the research shows some men are “leaning in” and “taking more responsibility to prevent unintended pregnancy.” 

“The reasons are deeply personal and multifactorial, but motivations can include concerns for their partner and fear about having kids they don’t want,” Dragoman said.

Dragoman warned that men should give the procedure a lot of thought before going through with it, because they may not be able to “count on an easy reversal” if they change their minds.

“Following vasectomy, successful pregnancy following a reversal is a possibility. However, this likelihood decreases over time and there is no guarantee of pregnancy,” Dragoman said. “People pursuing vasectomy with the idea that they will reverse when they are ready for childbearing are probably not the right candidates for the procedure.”

The study, called  “Trends in the Vasectomy Rate Among Privately Insured Men Aged 18–64 in the United States Between 2014 and 2021,” was published in Urology in June 2023. Study co-authors include Zhong Huang and Max J. Hyman.

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Twitter @thekat_hamilton.

Sen. Cruz: 88 Attacks on Crisis Pregnancy Centers, But DOJ Uses ‘Entire Weight and Force of FBI’ Against Non-Violent Pro-Life Protestors

CRAIG BANNISTER | 

“At least 88 crisis pregnancy centers have been firebombed, vandalized, or set ablaze in the wake of the Dobbs decision.  DOJ’s response to this violence has been anemic, having only prosecuted one FACE Act case against these criminals,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department zealously targets non-violent pro-life protestors, Sen. Cruz observed in a thread posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter:

“However, and in stark contrast, the DOJ has brought the entire weight and force of the FBI against those who engage in non-violent protest at abortion clinics.  Yesterday, the DOJ convicted Lauren Handy and four other abortion protestors for engaging in non-violent protest.

“They now face 11 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $350,000. The DOJ has been aggressively targeting Handy since she and others blew the whistle on an abortion doctor in Washington D.C. who was engaging in illegal, late-term abortions.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland is blatantly practicing a politicized two-tiered system of justice and Cruz continued, calling for Garland’s resignation:

“When you compare how aggressively DOJ treats pro-life protestors like Lauren Handy and Mark Houck versus the hand-off approach it takes to those who vandalize churches and pregnancy centers, it’s obvious that Garland has politicized our justice system. He should resign.”

Cruz’s thread links to an article by The Daily Signal reporting that a DOJ attorney has admitted that the Justice Department is targeting pro-life activists in retaliation for a Supreme Court’s ruling against Roe v. Wade:

“The Justice Department’s Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in December 2022 that the DOJ is targeting pro-life activists through the FACE Act as a response to the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Her remarks followed on the heels of Republican accusations that the DOJ is unduly targeting pro-life activists like Catholic father Mark Houck.”

In “Tracking Attacks on Pregnancy Centers & Pro-Life Groups,” last updated on August 9, 2023, Catholic Vote notes that the attacks appear to be the work of pro-abortion domestic terrorists:

“At least 88 pregnancy resource centers and pro-life groups have been attacked and vandalized since a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked in early May 2022. Pro-abortion domestic terrorists have claimed responsibility, and delivered on their promise of a ‘summer of rage’“.

FIGHT FOR THE UNBORN AND AGAINST THE PIG LAWYERS

D.C. Judge Denies Emergency Motion to Release Pro-Life Activist from Jail

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Eric Lee for The Washington Post via Getty Images

KATHERINE HAMILTON

31 Aug 202391

4:46

Attorneys for pro-life activist Lauren Handy are appealing her case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after a district court judge denied their emergency motion to release Handy from jail. 

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, denied Thomas More Society’s emergency motion on Thursday to release Handy, one of the five pro-life activists found guilty on Tuesday of conspiracy against rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for seeking to prevent abortions by blocking the entrance of the Washington Surgi-Clinic abortion facility in October of 2020. 

Judge Kollar-Kotelly, who once proposed that a constitutional right to abortion may be found in the 13th Amendment because of its prohibition of “slavery nor involuntary servitude,” ordered Handy and her four co-defendants to be immediately taken to jail after the jury returned its verdict, deeming their violation of the FACE Act a “crime of violence.” 

Thomas More Society senior counsels Martin Cannon and Steve Crampton argued in their motion that under federal law and binding precedents from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, the FACE Act is not categorically a “crime of violence” and should not lead to pre-sentencing detention. They also argued that releasing Handy before sentencing would pose no risk to the public. 

“Ms. Handy is a prominent national nonprofit leader,” Handy’s attorneys wrote in the motion. “In 2017, she founded Mercy Missions, a mutual aid organization dedicated to helping families and mothers in crisis pregnancies and providing survival aid for houseless people. Her charitable work and desire to help people and particularly families have led to previous arrests and charges for, primarily, trespassing. There is no evidence that Ms. Handy poses a danger to the safety of any person or the community.”

The activists, including Handy, Heather Idoni, William Goodman, Herb Geraghty, and John Hinshaw, could face a potential “maximum sentence of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $350,000,” according to the Department of Justice. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanjay Patel argued during the trial that Handy, who is now an activist with the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), designed the “invasion” into the Washington Surgi-Clinic, an abortion facility infamous for late-term abortions. According to WUSA 9, Handy and the other activists gained access to the clinic by scheduling an appointment under the name “Hazel Jenkins.” 

“Some simply kneeled and prayed at Santangelo’s facility, some passed out pro-life literature and counseled abortion-minded women, and others roped and chained themselves together inside the facility,” according to Handy’s attorneys from the Thomas More Society, a pro-life law firm that has represented other pro-life activists like Mark Houck and David Daleiden.

Lauren Handy (C) joins fellow pro-life activists protesting the Roe v. Wade abortion decision outside the U.S. Supreme Court building on May 23, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In March of 2022, the DOJ charged Handy and eight others with “conspiracy against rights and a [Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances] Act offense.” The DOJ charges occurred the same month that Handy and PAAU’s founder and former executive director Terrisa Bukovinac allegedly discovered the remains of approximately 115 aborted babies in a waste box from the Washington Surgi-Clinic, five of whom they say may have been partially aborted or killed after birth in violation of federal law. D.C. police previously told Breitbart News that the deaths of the five babies are still under investigation. 

Judge Kollar-Kotelly notably barred Handy’s attorneys from entering photos of the remains as evidence at trial. She also barred them from including a Live Action undercover video of Washington-Surgi Clinic abortionist Dr. Cesare Santangelo allegedly saying he would not assist a baby that is born alive in a botched abortion. Handy’s attorneys argued that the video has had a “lasting impact” on Handy’s decision to become a pro-life activist and is “integral to understanding Lauren’s motive that day in October 2020.” 

Crampton told WUSA9 that he thinks the case is “far from over.”

“Miss Handy is a person who has the courage of her convictions. Willing to do time – obviously doesn’t want to do time. While she will fight on, we intend to fight on as well at the Thomas More Society,” he said. 

A second group of defendants is scheduled to begin trial on the same charges as Handy next week.

The case is United States v. Handy, No. 1:22-cr-96 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.