WASHINGTON — Rates of female sterilization increased in the year after the Dobbs v. Jackson supreme court decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion conferred by Roe v. Wade, according to research presented at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) 2026 Annual Meeting.

The findings come from a study of a single institution in Pennsylvania, but they align with other studies that have similarly found an increase in female sterilization rates both nationally and in specific states. This study did not find a change in male sterilization rates, but other studies have found increases in the procedure in men as well.

The results reveal the impact of “all the laws limiting reproductive justice in the United States, even in my state of Pennsylvania where abortion is pretty protected,” said Julia Mendiola, MD, an ob/gyn in Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh. “We really can give those patients that care if they need it,” she said, and providers should also ensure patients are aware of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) options such as intrauterine devices.

Even though LARC options are available to patients, people are reaching for more permanent forms of sterilization, Mendiola said. “Not only are patients affected by changes in reproductive healthcare options, but they’re being forced to make big decisions at a younger age,” she added, noting that an increase in sterilization was also seen in women younger than 23 years.

Female sterilization declined globally from 29% in 1995 to 23% in 2020, so the researchers wanted to know if US rates changed after the Dobbs decision moved the authority to regulate abortion to individual states. Currently, 13 states have banned abortion, and 10 other states have substantial gestational age limitations, according to KFF. However, abortion remains legal up to 24 weeks of gestation in Pennsylvania, although it is not enshrined in the state’s constitution.

The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study at all Allegheny Health Network hospitals, identifying all procedures from August 2020 to May 2024 in patients aged 18-50 years that were coded for bilateral salpingectomies/tubal ligation and vasectomies. The Dobbs decision was in June 2022.

The incidence of female sterilization in the 6 months after Dobbs was 0.272%, not significantly different from the 0.249% in the 6 months before Dobbs. However, the incidence 1 year after Dobbs was 0.398%, significantly higher than the 0.325% in the year before the decision (P < .001). Similarly, the 0.554% rate 22 months after Dobbs was significantly higher than the 0.53% in the nearly 2 years before the decision (P < .001).

Male sterilization rates did not change significantly at 6 months (0.146% vs 0.17%), 1 year (0.234% vs 0.214%), or 22 months (0.319% vs 0.29%) after Dobbs compared to those time periods before the decision (P = .1 to .28).

When the researchers stratified the results by age, they found the average age of patients undergoing sterilization overall was significantly lower after Dobbs (33.4 years) than before Dobbs (35.1 years; P = .0002).

Overall, sterilization rates were significantly higher in women after Dobbs (3.7% vs 0.06%; P = .008).

The findings were not surprising to Nicholas Raja, MD, a fellow in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but that does not make them any less important, he suggested.

“This is another iteration of data that has been presented in many venues,” Raja told Medscape Medical News. “What it points to is that in many different areas of the country, we’re seeing the same trend.”

Carrie Bell, MD, a clinical associate professor in ob/gyn at the University of Michigan, noted that these results reveal how women are taking the opportunity to “own their reproductive choices.”

“Some people don’t want to make a decision to end a pregnancy,” Bell said. “They want the control to not to have to make that decision.”

Mendiola, Raja, and Bell did not have any disclosures. No external funding was noted for the study.

Tara Haelle is a science/health journalist based in Dallas.