Planned Parenthood’s Hammond clinic has begun offering vasectomy services – and three other Indiana clinics plan to follow suit.
Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, said since the overturn of Roe v. Wade last year, the organization has seen a 40 percent increase in vasectomies performed at clinics in states where the services were already offered.
There has also been an increase in requests in Indiana, she said, where the services have not been previously offered.
The fall of Roe v. Wade left many concerned for their own reproductive rights and the reproductive rights of their partners, Gibron said.
Indiana passed a near-total abortion ban in August, but that law is on hold due to legal challenges. Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics continue to offer abortions while the ban is on hold.
Gibron said the increased interest in vasectomies comes from patients who want to protect and support their partners.
“By having someone come in and get a vasectomy, they are showing their support for their partner who may not be able to access abortion care,” Gibron said.
By offering vasectomy services, she said, Planned Parenthood is able to provide Hoosiers with another option for reproductive health care.
“Vasectomies offer a ‘get it and forget it’ kind of birth control option,” she said. “Offering a full range of comprehensive birth control services for men, women, and non-gender-conforming patients in our communities is what Planned Parenthood does.”
The locations of the additional clinics that will offer vasectomy services — and the timeline for opening them — has not yet been determined, Gibron said.
The Hammond location was chosen as the first Indiana clinic because it received the most requests for vasectomy services, she said.
More information about vasectomy services can be found on the Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky website.
Contact WFYI health reporter Darian Benson at dbenson@wfyi.org.
