In this series
About 15 percent of men in the US between the ages of 45 and 49 have undergone a vasectomy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that tubal ligation (tying fallopian tubes) is the most common form of birth control for women in the country. On social media platforms, women are celebrating their hysterectomies with friends. These procedures are not uncommon, including in the church. Yet we don’t talk about them.
Hysterectomies are most commonly used for dangerous or debilitating health problems such as to save life during birth or to treat endometriosis. Often, women are devastated after receiving them even if the procedure saved their lives. But female sterilization especially has a dark history. Historically, governments worldwide have used them to compulsorily sterilize women or to control “undesirable” populations, including certain ethnic groups, immigrants, the mentally ill, or unmarried mothers. Today, hysterectomies are still used in some places to force women to work more efficiently. Meanwhile, others see them positively as “gender-affirming treatment.”
So how should the Christian think about these permanent sterilization procedures? Christianity Today invited three writers to consider “the snip” more thoughtfully. Justin Whitmel Earley shares a personal story about his decision seven years ago and encourages men to care for their families through taking on the burden of contraception. Katelyn Walls Shelton examines why we are uncomfortable with the conversation about sterilization. Finally, Matthew Lee Anderson writes that Protestant arguments for and against vasectomies are not rigorous enough—and that we must think more clearly and carefully here.
As you read, our hope is not that you feel shame, regret, or discomfort. Rather, it is that you thoughtfully consider a cultural movement through the lens of Scripture and a theology of the body so you can carefully counsel church members or consider all sides of a decision before making a (quite literally) life-altering choice.
Kara Bettis Carvalho is the senior features editor at Christianity Today.
