(515) A Call to Contraception: Overturn of ROE v. WADE Catalyzes Rise in U.S. Vasectomy Consultations

Abstract

Abstract Introduction On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on DOBBS v. JACKSON WOMEN'S HEALTH ORGANIZATION leaves abortion rights or restrictions to be defined at the state level. The following week several news outlets reported that urologists across the country are experiencing significant increases in clinical encounters for individuals interested in undergoing a vasectomy. Objective To explore the impact of changes to federal protection of abortion rights on the number of individuals seeking vasectomies at two high-impact academic centers and their correlation with Google Web searches. Methods A cross-sectional analysis of Google web searches from 1/1/2004-6/30/2022 was performed for the key term ‘vasectomy’ utilizing Google Trends®. One primary outcome was relative search interest in the key term ‘vasectomy’ prior and after the overturn of ROE v. WADE. We calculated the coefficients of determination for the linear search trend of this term. In parallel, cross-sectional analyses were performed utilizing databases from the electronic medical records of two high-impact university hospitals (‘Hospital-1’ and ‘Hospital-2’). in the U.S. focusing on patient encounters for vasectomy consultation coded as ‘vasectomy / vasectomy consult / vasectomy planning/ vasectomy education.’ The observation interval included 06/01/2022 - 06/30/2022. Correlation coefficients were calculated using SPSS. Results Web searches for the term ‘vasectomy’ increased 3.6 times the average number of searches for ‘vasectomy’ during the week following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on abortion, and it marked the most the term had ever been searched since Google began tracking its searches in 2004. Similarly, office visits for vasectomy consultations for Hospital-1 and Hospital-2 increased by factors of 2.4 and 6.0, respectively. Internet searches for ‘vasectomy’ and the number of clinic vasectomy consultations demonstrated correlation values of r = 0.96 and r = 0.89 for Hospital-1 and Hospital-2, respectively. Conclusions Online search interest as well as clinical encounters for vasectomy consultation have increased over the past 30 days coincidentally with - and perhaps as a consequence of - the overturn of ROE v. WADE. Our study has demonstrated marked correlation between the increase in Google searches and office visits for vasectomy consultation. This may mark a watershed moment in the adoption of vasectomy for male contraception. Disclosure No