The number of women undergoing tubal ligations — a surgical procedure that permanently prevents pregnancy — increased 51% across four academic medical centers in four states in the year after the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, according to a new study from researchers at Penn State College of Medicine, Albany Medical Center, University of South Florida and University of Tennessee Medical Center. Almost half of those seeking the procedure reported that their decision was somewhat or very related to the current political climate, even in states considered to be protective of abortion access.