Letters to the Editor: A nation of vasectomized men — did you envision this, antiabortion zealots?
The following letter is from John Green, who was born vasectomized as a baby and has been a practicing physician for 45 years. John is writing as the medical director of the Vasectomy Education Network (VNET), a national network of vasectomized men dedicated to educating the public about vasectomy and the health benefits it brings to men.
The health benefits of vasectomy have been well documented, but we can’t let the antiabortionists, particularly those who are politically active, use our success with vasectomy as their political weapon to force a policy or procedure on women (and by inference force the men to undergo vasectomy). And for the record, we don’t believe in the political ideology of abortion, but we do believe in the health benefits of vasectomy for men.
We are men, and we are not going anywhere. The only changes in our lives are the birth control pills, and those of our sons. And I think the world would be a better place if men chose to procreate.
A letter to the editor:
Vasectomy saved the life of my daughter.
My husband, Jim, had multiple vasectomies following a serious accident years ago. In 2002, the doctors at a local hospital asked him if he wanted vasectomies for other reasons. In hindsight, they told him that he did not have any other reasons. They were right, of course. I had to talk Jim into it.
It was hard going for a while, even with the support of family and friends. After a couple of months, I had to get up in the middle of the night to get my husband to the bathroom. But for a short time at least we could live in our world of normality and take that for granted.
We were both able to get over the initial shock of the loss of the other and to accept that I had been right in the beginning. It was hard, but I found that I was able to get to sleep at night knowing in my heart that I had been right and no one could take that away from me.
Now, at almost 30