Cook: Apples to wombs: A vasectomy is not an abortion

David Cook

In Nashville this week, senators were discussing abortion when Sen. Todd Gardenhire began talking about his own vasectomy.

“When you start talking to a doctor about them whacking on you down there,” he said, “you want to wait a while and think about it.”

There in the Legislature, his point was this: Adding restrictions to abortions — like informed consent or mandatory waiting periods — is fair, since men go through a far more rigorous and stringent process for a vasectomy.

“They call you in the office. They meet with your spouse. They tell you the consequences,” he said. “They tell you how it’s almost impossible to have it reversed and that you better go home and you better think about that.”