(494) Vasectomy Trends Coincide with Texas Abortion Law Changes
Authors: Kavoussi P , Mehrabani-Farsi R , Henderson H , Machen G L 
Published: May 2023

Introduction

On May 19, 2021, the most restrictive abortion measure was signed into state law in Texas banning abortions as early as 6 weeks into pregnancy. With the recent overturning of Roe v Wade, there is nationwide attention to the potential impact on reproductive medicine, but the Texas law may serve as a predictor for vasectomy trends.

Objective

To assess changes in vasectomy trends after the law; including patient age, the number of children a man had prior to vasectomy, the number of men without children that underwent vasectomy and their ages, and the number of single men versus legally married at the time of vasectomy.

Methods

A retrospective chart review was performed of the electronic health record from December 2010 through June 2022 which included 2,273 men who underwent vasectomy at a single reproductive urology practice. Chi square test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used for statistical analyses with p value of &lt; 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results are presented in means ± standard deviations.

Results

Prior to the law (10/1/2010-5/18/2021) 1,561 men underwent vasectomy and following the signing of the law (5/19/2021-6/30/2022) 712 men underwent vasectomy. The mean age of the men in the entire cohort was 37.3 years ± 4.8. There was a significantly younger age of the men who underwent vasectomy prior to the law (37.6 years ± 6.6) in comparison to after the law (36.7 years ± 4.8) (p value 0.001). The mean number of children men had prior to vasectomy for the entire cohort was 1.9 ± 0.7. Men who underwent vasectomy after the law had significantly less children (1.8 ± 0.7) prior to undergoing vasectomy than those who underwent vasectomy prior to the law (2.0 ± 1.3) (p value 0.0001). In the entire cohort, 397/2273 (17.5%) of the men did not have any children prior to undergoing vasectomy. There was a significantly higher percentage of men without children undergoing vasectomy (150/712 (21.0%)) after the law in comparison to prior to law (247/1561 (15.8%)) (p value 0.023). There was not a significant difference in the mean age of men without children who underwent vasectomy prior (35.0 ± 7.6) versus after the law (33.5 ± 7.6) (p value 0.078). In the entire cohort, 791/2273 (34.8%) of the men who underwent vasectomy were not legally married, and considered single, at the time of vasectomy. There was a higher percentage of men who were single who underwent vasectomy after the law (384/712 (54.0%)) vs prior it 407/1561 (26.1%) (p value 0.00001).

Conclusions

Although this study was not designed to assess causation, there is a clear correlation between the timing of the signing of the Texas abortion law and trends in younger men seeking vasectomy with fewer children prior to vasectomy, more men without children opting for vasectomy, and a higher percentage of men who were single opting for vasectomy following the implementation of the law.

Disclosure

Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: Speaker Bureau: Halozyme Therapeutics, Clarus Therapeutics, Acerus Pharmaceuticals; not related to this work.