Michigan lawmaker goes public about her sterilization surgery

Michigan Democratic state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky announced on Feb. 5 that she recently had sterilization surgery, a response, she said, to the current administration and its potential threat to reproductive rights. 

“I underwent surgery to ensure that I would never have to navigate a pregnancy in Donald Trump’s America,” Pohutsky told a crowd that had gathered on Feb. 5 at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing to protest the administration’s actions, according to reporting by the Michigan Advance. “I refuse to let my body be treated as currency by an administration that only sees value in my ability to procreate.”

Pohutsky, 36, told the Michigan Independent that she decided to speak publicly about her procedure after hearing friends say they were doubting the validity of their own decisions in the face of potential restrictions on reproductive health care. 

“I wasn’t going to say anything publicly at first, because, frankly, it’s no one else’s business, but in the conversations that I was having with friends and people more in my circle, I kept hearing this tone of or even overt references to people kind of doubting themselves as to whether or not this was a valid concern to have in terms of continued access,” Pohutsky said. “I thought that it would be useful to have somebody that’s in sort of a position of authority to say, No, I’ve had the same train of thought you have. Your concern is valid. You should feel empowered to make the decision that is right for you now.” 

Tubal sterilizations, which either block or remove part of the fallopian tubes, are irreversible, providing permanent contraception.  

Pohutsky joins a growing group of younger Americans opting for permanent sterilization since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022 ended the nationwide constitutional right to abortion.  

A study published in January 2025 in the journal Health Affairs by researchers at George Washington University, the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, and the University of Michigan found that the demand for tubal sterilizations and vasectomies, surgical sterilization procedures for men, among 19- to 26-year-olds in the United States rose significantly post-Dobbs. Just two months following the decision, tubal sterilizations were up by 70% and vasectomies by 95%, according to the study. 

“This adds to a growing body of literature that is documenting that the effects of the Dobbs decision go well beyond abortion and extend into contraception, and particularly may be true for more vulnerable groups, including young adults,” Julia Strasser, a policy researcher and an author of the study, said in a research video. 

Even though abortion is legal in Michigan without gestational restrictions, and voters in 2022 approved an amendment to the state constitution that protects reproductive freedom, Pohutsky said she is worried about decisions that could come out of the current Congress and how entities in her state would respond to executive orders from Trump.

“I had my surgery the same week as the inauguration, and at one point I even considered rescheduling it, because I ended up having session that day and I didn’t want to miss a vote,” Pohutsky said. “I decided against rescheduling it because all of these executive orders coming out of the White House, not all of them have the force of law, but there are a lot of entities, including at least one hospital system in Michigan, that are just preemptively cooperating with things that do not have the force of law.”  

Pohutsky said that Corewell Health, a statewide health system, has “discontinued gender-affirming care for minors, even though there is no actual legal reason for them to do it. … So again, just the kind of preemptive capitulation to these orders that are not law is concerning.”

Pohutsky said she’s received significant backlash after going public about her surgery 

“We’ve gotten death threats. … I’m called a b***h. I’m called a c**t. So it’s all very gender-based, but it’s just surprising to me. It really is. It is almost indistinguishable to the backlash around abortion, and I find that, objectively speaking, fascinating.”

In January 2025, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed 16 bills to expand access to reproductive health care in the state, including two that specifically protect contraception. One bill allows pharmacists to prescribe and dispense contraceptives to patients, and a second bill requires that insurance companies cover the cost of pharmacist-prescribed contraceptives.  

Despite the protections in her state, Pohutsky said, she feels it’s important for residents to continue to keep in mind that the Michigan Constitution “cannot withstand federal action.” 

“We really can’t factor in for entities and institutions that just preemptively capitulate to executive orders and things like that. So, yes, we are in a safe access state, but we are also in thoroughly uncharted territory as it relates to the federal level, and I think that we need to make decisions for ourselves that are going to position us as best as we can,” she said.