AUSTIN, Texas — Since the Supreme Court's Friday decision to leave abortion rights up to states, some Austin clinics have seen inquires for vasectomies and sterilization procedures skyrocket.
The uncertainty over options for unwanted pregnancies have people in Central Texas acting fast.
As feet hit the pavement on Friday following the SCOTUS decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, phones rang nonstop at local vasectomy clinics.
"The desire for a vasectomy has really just kind of blown up since that decision was made," said Dr. Parviz Kavoussi at Austin Fertility and Reproductive Medicine.
Dr. Kavoussi said his clinic typically has five to eight consultation requests a day, but since the decision came down, it received about 150 consultation requests in two business days.
"Interestingly, a lot of these men are actually disclosing that it's directly due to the SCOTUS decision," said Dr. Kavoussi.
The founder of Austin Urology Institute, Dr. Koushik Shaw, said calls doubled on Friday.
"We had over 400 calls this past Friday, with 70 phone calls in the hour following Roe v. Wade," said Dr. Shaw.
It's not just men looking to avoid unwanted pregnancies. On Women's Health Domain's website, the clinic has a warning to be patient as inquiries for sterilization procedures have increased by nearly 1,000% since Friday.
"A lot of our couples, what they're saying is, the Roe v. Wade, the Texas legislation, it fast-forwarded our decision-making process," said Dr. Shaw.
Both doctors said a vasectomy costs under $1,000. Typically insurance covers all or part of it.
"I think there's a lot of fear," said Dr. Kavoussi.
At the same time, the message to men is to think hard about their decisions because reversals cost thousands and are not always 100% effective.
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