How Dobbs Has Affected Individuals’ Sexual Health Decisions

For nearly a half century, abortion was legal throughout the United States. The Supreme Court established a constitutional right to abortion in Roe v. Wade (1973) and subsequently affirmed it in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). However, in 2022, the Court overturned these decisions in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, effectively banning abortion protections at the federal level and leaving the issue up to the states.

In the years since the Dobbs ruling was issued, 12 states have banned abortion outright and an additional 10 states have implemented various gestational limits on abortion between 6 and 22 weeks. Individuals in southern, conservative states are particularly vulnerable to the ramifications of limiting abortion. Additionally, abortion access (or lack thereof) is a health disparity that disproportionately disenfranchises poor women, as well as Black and Hispanic women. [1]

In this post, we’re going to look at the impact of the Dobbs case on sexual and reproductive health, including how individuals search for abortion information, safer-sex practices, and interest in surgical contraceptive methods. 

Finding Abortion Information

Where do Americans today go to find information about abortion? And do they trust the information they’re getting? In a recent study, hundreds of adolescents and young adults were asked the question, “If you needed to find information online about getting an abortion, what specific websites or social media accounts would you look at?” [2] Almost half of the participants named specific online resource sites (e.g., Planned Parenthood), followed by 14% who named governmental resources and 13% who named social media. However, nearly 1 in 5 were unsure of where they would go. In addition, many respondents demonstrated skepticism as to whether social media and other online sources were trustworthy when it came to abortion information. Given these results, there is clearly a need for easily-searchable yet reliable information on this topic.

Practicing Safer Sex 

With abortion becoming more limited in the United States, practicing safer sex to prevent unintended pregnancy has become all the more important. A recent study explored how women conceptualized responsibility when it comes to safer sex. [3] Researchers recruited 339 cisgender women ages 18-29 who were asked whether the Dobbs decision affected how they viewed men’s and women’s roles in practicing safer sex. Interestingly, two of the major themes in participants’ responses involved (a) how, now, more than ever, it is important for men and women to share the burden of pregnancy prevention, and (b) the importance of amplifying the role of men in doing so. For example, responses indicated that men should take part in meeting their partner’s sexual health needs (e.g., rides to the gynecologist, purchasing condoms), and that it is important for male birth control to become normalized. These findings indicate dissatisfaction with the disproportionate burden that is put on women to avoid pregnancy, which is a sentiment that other studies have found to be prevalent in the wake of Dobbs. [4]

Exploring Surgical Contraception 

Given increasing restrictions on abortion, some providers are worried that access to birth control—such as hormonal birth control via “the pill” or IUDs—may also become more difficult. In light of this, some individuals are turning to more permanent, surgical options to prevent pregnancy. For example, following Dobbs, healthcare institutions found increases in both vasectomies [5, 6] and tubal sterilization requests [7] as compared to prior rates of these procedures. In the case of vasectomies, more young, childless men were pursuing vasectomies than those who normally did, and one study found that at least one-third of individuals who initiated a vasectomy after June 2022 (the Dobbs decision) did so due to sociopolitical issues, including the reversal of Roe v Wade. [8]

Together, these studies demonstrate the importance of (a) having accessible contraception options, (b) making sure information about abortion and safer-sex practices is both easy to find and reliable, and (c) protecting bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. Below are some resources that are doing the work to help in those efforts: 

• Planned Parenthood: Abortion Resources 
• Planned Parenthood: Birth Control Resources
• State-by-State Abortion Law Dashboard
• National Network of Abortion Funds

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Title graphic made with Canva. 

References 

[1] Watson, K. (2022). The ethics of access: Reframing the need for abortion care as a health disparity. The American Journal of Bioethics, 22(8), 22–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2022.2075976

[2] Allison, B. A., Odom, R. M., Vear, K., Hoopes, A. J., & Maslowsky, J. (2023). A nationwide sample of adolescents and young adults share where they would go online for abortion information after Dobbs v. Jackson. Journal of Adolescent Health, 73(6), 1153–1157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.05.010

[3] Nolen, E., Cary, K., Mendoza, R. R., Vohra-Gupta, S., & Cubbin, C. (2025). “It’s more important than ever for men to play a role”: Women’s perspectives on safe sex responsibilities following the Dobbs decision. The Journal of Sex Research, 0(0), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2025.2499564

[4] Mann, E. S., McLennan, J. A., & Broussard, K. (2024). U.S. college students’ perspectives on contraception and abortion post-Dobbs: The influence of socioeconomic privilege and gender inequity. Frontiers in Public Health, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1274154

[5] Berk, B. D., Bole, R., Lundy, S. D., & Vij, S. C. (2025). A review of the changing landscape of vasectomy trends in the United States in the post-Dobbs era. International Journal of Impotence Research, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-025-01053-2

[6] Bole, R., Lundy, S. D., Pei, E., Bajic, P., Parekh, N., & Vij, S. C. (2024). Rising vasectomy volume following reversal of federal protections for abortion rights in the United States. International Journal of Impotence Research, 36(3), 265–268. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-023-00672-x

[7] Liang, A. C., Gliwa, C., Loder, C. M., Dalton, V. K., & Smith, R. D. (2023). Tubal sterilization requests at a single institution following the supreme court decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion. JAMA, 330(4), 374–375. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.11073

[8] Cheng, L. G., White, K., Jarlenski, M., & Hwang, K. (2025). Patient-reported influence of sociopolitical issues on post-Dobbs vasectomy decisions. JAMA Network Open, 8(1), e2454430. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.54430