Concerned About Roe, Some Women Are Turning to Sterilization

Pseudonymous gas station clerk Eleanor is just 20, but she knows that she never wants children. “I have a lot of trauma from my childhood, and from how my mother treated me,” she tells me. “I wouldn’t want to risk continuing that cycle of abuse.” So, for the last few years, she’s been researching sterilization procedures, specifically a salpingectomy — an operation in which one or both of the fallopian tubes are removed. But it wasn’t until earlier this week, when a leaked draft revealed that the Supreme Court had voted to overturn Roe v. Wade — the landmark 1973 ruling that made safe, legal abortion a constitutional right — that Eleanor finally decided to try and book an appointment with a gynecologist. 

“I’m terrified of having to go through pregnancy,” she explains. “If women aren’t already sterile or don’t get sterilized as soon as possible, lives are going to be lost.”

Eleanor is one of many women ramping up their efforts to get sterilized, or even newly considering the procedure in light of the possible countrywide rollback of America’s abortion rights. After the Supreme Court draft was shared by Politico on May 2nd, scores of women took to social media to express newfound interest in sterilization, lament misogynistic doctors who refuse the procedure to women — “because you could change your mind and sue,” read one tweet — and share resources about providers. Over on Reddit’s r/childfree subreddit, a trending post about sterilization information got nearly 1,000 upvotes and over 100 comments.