Planned Parenthood to offer vasectomies at Orlando health clinic

Less than one month after a ballot measure to overturn Florida’s six-week abortion ban narrowly failed to get the support it needed to pass, Planned Parenthood has decided to relaunch a program at their East Orlando clinic that offers an increasingly in-demand form of permanent birth control: vasectomies.

“With the recent failure of Amendment 4 to pass in Florida despite receiving 57% of the vote and the added uncertainties around abortion and health care access nationwide, it is more important than ever that people have every tool at their disposal to maintain control over their health and medical decisions,” said Barbara Zdravecky, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, in a statement.

“Traditionally, the burden of birth control has fallen on women, but in recent years we have seen a turn toward more equitable accountability in reproductive health care and pregnancy prevention,” she added.

“Vasectomy is an incredible and very safe method of birth control.”

Florida’s Amendment 4 sought to enshrine the right to have an abortion in the state Constitution, where state lawmakers would have had a more difficult time messing with it. Amendment 4 would have legalized abortion up to fetal viability, similar to where abortion access similarly stood in Florida just a couple of years ago, before Florida legislators approved a 15-week abortion ban. Although more than 6 million Florida voters voted in favor of Amendment 4, it did not surpass the 60 percent threshold required for constitutional amendments to pass.

Planned Parenthood, a key partner in the Amendment 4 campaign, is now teaming up with VasWeb, a vasectomy provider based in Tampa, to provide safe no-needle, no-scalpel vasectomy procedures at Planned Parenthood’s East Orlando clinic, located off University Boulevard near the University of Central Florida. The service will only be available on select “vasectomy days,” since the provider isn’t someone they’re staffing in-house.

Dr. Robyn Schickler, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood in Central Florida, said the procedure itself is “very safe,” can be completed in as little as 15 minutes, and doesn’t require anesthesia — although a local anesthetic like lidocaine may be offered. “Vasectomy is an incredible and very safe method of birth control,” Schickler noted.

VasWeb charges $690 for the procedure if paying out of pocket, but if you’re insured, the procedure may be at least partially covered through your insurance plan. On their website, VasWeb aptly notes that $690 is “still FAR less than an unintended pregnancy!”

An abortion procedure, for instance, can cost anywhere from $500 to $2,300 through a Planned Parenthood clinic, depending on how far along you are in your pregnancy. And Florida is also one of the costliest states for childbirth, if you do bring a pregnancy to term.

As of Sept. 2023, the median cost of a vaginal birth in Florida was $34,489 for those who are uninsured or receiving out-of-network care. Even for in-network care, the median cost is $14,911, and the cost of a C-section birth is even higher.

A vasectomy may not be for everyone. But if you’re a father who is ready to stop procreating, or a man who simply does not want to get someone pregnant, experts say vasectomies can be one of the most effective ways to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

“In the 40 years I’ve been providing vasectomies and vasectomy reversals, the biggest jump we’ve seen in interest was immediately following the overturn of Roe v. Wade,” Dr. Douglas Stein, a board-certified urologist and founder of VasWeb, shared in a statement.

Roe v. Wade was the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case establishing the right to abortion. After nearly half a century, it was overturned by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022.

From Stein’s perspective, “It was clear that a lot of men are very concerned about whether they and their partners might no longer have the option to terminate a pregnancy in the event of failure of one of their contraceptive methods.”

Abortion is currently banned in Florida after six weeks of pregnancy, with few and restrictive exceptions. Now, the nearest state to legally terminate a pregnancy after six weeks is hundreds of miles away in North Carolina, where abortion is legal up to 12 weeks, or Virginia, where abortion is legal up to the third trimester.

The Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, a nonprofit that helps remove logistical and financial barriers to abortion care, recently told Orlando Weekly that, if someone who contacts them is beyond six weeks, they generally try to coordinate care with clinics up in Washington, D.C., where lodging and travel costs are more convenient.

“I know a lot of people are trying to go to Virginia, but unless you’re driving, flights and hotels aren’t always the easiest,” explained Bree Wallace, director of case management for TBAF. “They kind of get expensive at times, too.” Illinois, where abortion is legal up to viability, is another option.

A number of studies have indicated vasectomies are having a moment, post-Roe, with a greater interest in the procedure. Increased demand has been particularly notable among younger, single adults.

A national review published in the Journal of Urology in May found a “significant increase” in the number of patients under 30 who had undergone vasectomies in the first few months after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Compared to states with less restrictive abortion policies, the rate of vasectomies was “consistently higher” both pre- and post-Dobbs than in states that completely ban or restrict abortion access.

In addition to vasectomies, the review also found that demand among women for tubal ligation — a procedure also colloquially referred to as getting one’s tubes tied — has also increased. “The increased rate of vasectomies post-Dobbs was consistent among states regardless of the legal climate, while the increased rate of tubals post-Dobbs was significantly increased in states where abortion was illegal,” according to the review.

Planned Parenthood doesn’t offer tubal sterilization, but Schickler said that, compared to vasectomies, sterilization for women can be a more complicated procedure. It takes longer, requires anesthesia, and also requires more recovery time.

“It’s a full-on thing, requires time off of work, some recovery. The vasectomy is like, they walk in, it’s maybe 10 to 15 minutes [with] the no-scalpel technique,” Schickler explained. “It is so quick, especially with [providers] from places like VasWeb that do these all the time.”

Dr. Stein, who trains doctors in both vasectomies and vasectomy reversal, says that people “want to be in control” of their reproductive health. “Restrictions on health care access have really gripped men who want to remain child-free, and even those who have children but don’t want more. I’m excited to be working with Planned Parenthood to help reach even more patients seeking vasectomy care.”

Schickler said that people in Florida trust Planned Parenthood as a healthcare provider, and even with Florida’s restrictive six-week abortion ban in effect, “we still plan to be here.”

“Patients are still counting on us. Patients are still coming in for care, so we’ll continue to provide that care,” she said, “in compliance with the law, of course.”

Their clinics also offer birth control, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, emergency contraception, and sex education services. The next day that Planned Parenthood’s East Orlando Health Center is offering vasectomy appointments — Dec. 16 — is already booked up, Schickler confirmed. However, they plan to offer more appointments “regularly,” depending on the VasWeb provider’s availability.

“The hope is for it to be a very regular thing,” she said. “Possibly having such high demand may prompt more days to open, or for the providers to be more available on those days.” At this time, they’ll only be offering vasectomy services at their Orlando clinic, but they hope to be able to expand to other service areas in the future.

VasWeb’s next scheduled procedure day in Orlando that’s not booked up yet is Jan. 13. People who are interested in getting a vasectomy can schedule their appointment through VasWeb by going to VasWeb.com or calling 813-536-1430.

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This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2024.