All of these reasons for denying sterilization are in direct contradiction to ACOG’s ethical guidance. Doctors, however, are not affected in any way by refusing to perform the procedure; the United States does not track data on how many sterilization requests are denied. “So there is no responsibility — no ability to enforce the outcome,” Hintz said.
Access to the program is not fair across society. Echoes of the tortuous past of sterilization — where marginalized groups of women were forced to undergo surgery, including women of color, poor women, and those with disabilities or mental illness — still linger today. Black, Latino and Indigenous women in the United States are twice as likely to be sterilized as white women, and women with public or no health insurance are about 40 percent more likely to be sterilized than those with private insurance.
“The bottom line is that the way the legislation — and the way these very subjective assessments can be made — is just a means of perpetuating this very white, wealthy, able-bodied and cisgender idea. Who should have children,” Xin said. Z said.
The r/childfree community on Reddit is one corner of the Internet where people looking for the program can find advice and tips. The subreddit has folders with plenty of information on how to request the procedure, a curated list of doctors who will perform the procedure, and a sterilization binder where members can use a template consent form and a list of how they want the procedure form of the reason for the procedure to bring it to their doctor. program.
In addition to growing demands for permanent forms of birth control, overturn roe It has sparked an increase in the number of people seeking longer-lasting but non-permanent contraception, such as the intrauterine device (IUD). But the idea that birth control, permanent or otherwise, could replace abortion is inherently flawed, says Krystale Littlejohn, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Oregon, whose work explores race, gender and reproduction. While most people who can get pregnant use some form of birth control, one in four women will have an abortion during their lifetime. That’s why phrases like “tie your tube up” or “just grab an IUD” come into the picture. Dobbs It didn’t help, she said.
On the one hand, opting for these forms of birth control is not a trivial medical decision: a heavier, more painful period and a potentially painful implantation process—often without pain relief—is one of the possible consequences of getting an IUD . Tubal ligation requires invasive surgery and, like any surgical procedure, can lead to complications.
In fact, the advice to use birth control can be seen as another form of regulating people’s bodies, Littlejohn said. “When people advise their friends or loved ones to go on long-lasting birth control, I think people think they’re helping others, but what they’re really doing is violating their physical rights to autonomy,” she said. roeHer fall, she says, doesn’t just mean people with wombs are forced into childbirth; it’s also forcing them to use long-acting or permanent forms of birth control.
People living in restrictive parts of the U.S. may now feel compelled to seek long-term birth control or a tube — tantamount to forced birth control. “This is not the solution now,” she said. “I think it’s very important that we don’t try to fight reproductive injustice through reproductive coercion.”
