CNN interviewed a series of young women who celebrated their sterilization after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, declaring their surgeries as justified due to the ongoing federal legal battle regarding abortion pills, along with abortion access.
The women, ages 25 to 28 years old, celebrated their operations in various ways, such as cookies, birthday presents, and TikTok videos.
Dani Marietti, a 25-year-old, had a picnic to celebrate her sterilization. The layout featured chalk displays that read “see ya later suckas” above a drawing of the female reproductive system.
The celebration also featured cookies that read “abortion is healthcare,” “My body my choice,” “Girls just wanna have fundamental human rights,” and other edible drawings of female reproductive systems.
Kara Neils, 25, chose to be sterilized and even opted to post a series of TikTok videos explaining her surgeries.
“Hi, I’m Kara and I got sterilized last week,” one of the videos began. Neils also described the process as “really, really easy. Like, so much easier than I expected.”
CNN also interviewed Mariah Marsh, who saw her surgery as more of a necessity due to federal litigation against abortion pills. Marsh had her fallopian tubes removed as a 28th birthday present to herself in January 2023, CNN stated.
“I knew that the only way I could really protect myself is to go ahead and get the surgery,” Marsh claimed in the interview.
The 28-year-old was also reportedly more grateful for her sterilization due to the ongoing federal legal battle over mifepristone. The drug, when used in combination with misoprostol, causes a medical abortion. Mifepristone blocks a hormone called progesterone, a naturally produced hormone that prepares the lining of the uterus for a fertilized egg. The “uterus softens, breaks down and bleeding begins,” according to the drug’s manufacturer.
“It does make me happy that I made the decisions that I made because it validates my thought process, which was … they’re just gonna come … for … any access to care that a woman can make on her own,” Marsh slowly answered.
Dr. Leah Tatum, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Austin, Texas said women have been asking about sterilization far more frequently in recent months.
“I have definitely seen an increase in the request for sterilizations. I see about three times the consults for sterilization as I used to,” Tatum said. “Their concerns are if medical abortions are no longer accessible, what if their reproductive rights are restricted even further?”
CNN’s senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen assured the audience that the women she spoke to are “100% sure they don’t want children” and that “the Dobbs decision last year spurred them into action.”
The legal challenge against abortion pills “made them very glad they made that move,” the CNN correspondent concluded.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!