Contraceptive Technology Update – August 1, 2023

Permanent Contraception Options More Appealing After Abortion Ruling

The results of recent studies and reports revealed a spike in people seeking permanent contraception procedures in the United States. This trend may be the result of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which said there was no constitutional right to abortion care.

Base Permanent Contraception Counseling on Patients’ Preferences

Increasingly, reproductive health providers are meeting with patients who are interested in a permanent contraceptive method. Roadblocks to these procedures include a patient’s personal concerns about the procedure or future regret, as well as insurance/cost concerns, and clinicians who turn them down because they are too young or have no or too few children.

Patients Face Barriers to Permanent Contraception

For people who want a permanent contraception method, both tubal surgery and vasectomy are safe, highly effective, and result in a quick recovery. The chief obstacles are insurance restrictions, finding a clinician who can do the procedure, securing an operating room, religious hospitals’ policies, and inconvenience to patients.

Stress, Burnout, Quitting May Increase in Coming Years

Nurses, physicians, and others who work in reproductive healthcare are under increasing stress and pressure since states began to enforce abortion laws that range from total bans to restrictions on most abortion care. The authors of a recent study found that abortion providers are burdened and affected emotionally when they help people who are turned away from abortion care in their own communities or state.

Abortion Bans Lead Physicians, Nurses to Avoid Certain States

Medical students, residents, and practicing OB/GYNs are saying they do not want to train and practice in states with extreme abortion bans, including Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and others. The authors of a recent study found that four in five physicians and trainees preferred to avoid working in states with abortion bans.