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Esgar Guarín performs vasectomies in a mobile clinic. | Chase Castor for POLITICO | The overturning of Roe v. Wade fundamentally changed the way millions of Americans negotiate their reproductive health, and for many of them, that meant getting a vasectomy. Dr. Esgar Guarín, who has provided over 3,000 vasectomies over his 20 years in medicine — including the one he did on himself, on camera — operates the only mobile vasectomy clinic in America. Within two days of the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs, his website traffic jumped 250 percent, and the next month, he performed twice as many vasectomies as usual. There's not a lot of hard data on the surge, but hospitals across the country are reporting a significant increase in calls about the procedure, particularly among young, childless men . Though Guarín typically practices in Iowa, this June, he took his 24-by-8.5-foot, 11,000-lb. trailer vinyl-wrapped with illustrations of cartoon sperm to Missouri — which banned abortion except in cases of medical emergency 20 minutes after Dobbs was decided — to provide vasectomies in a Planned Parenthood parking lot. Dozens of men of all ages, professions and political inclinations showed up, from a far-left anarchist to an election denier. POLITICO Magazine's Jesús Rodríguez did a ride-along in the affectionately nicknamed "Nutcracker" to learn more about what's motivating men to get vasectomies in the wake of the Dobbs ruling. He writes that "the majority of the 15 men I spoke with said Dobbs accelerated their decision-making process. Some of them saw this as the only alternative given the unavailability of abortion in some states and the specter of the Supreme Court targeting contraception next, taking a hint from Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion ." Even some men who oppose abortion credited the Dobbs decision with expanding the availability of vasectomies — and prompting them to make appointments. The 10-minute procedure is the most effective contraceptive method available to men, and it can be reversed in some cases. "It makes more sense to take the bullets out of a gun, than try to put a bulletproof vest on somebody," says Jackson Frazier, a 32-year-old from St. Louis, adding his decision to get the procedure was "100 percent" because of Roe's fall. Read Rodríguez' story.
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| "Rand Paul had a major appointment today that he couldn't miss. Today was his monthly hair appointment. That perm wasn't going to fix itself." Can you guess who said this about Kentucky Senator Rand Paul? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
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POLITICO illustration/Photos by iStock | Biden's Big Book Bust … The publishing industry nearly buried us under books about Donald Trump, but tomes on President Joe Biden aren't exactly filling up the bookshelves. Even well-reviewed books on Biden's White House have produced anemic sales. But what's bad for political writers might just be good for the president, writes Michael Schaffer in this week's Capital City column .
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| 21 percent … of male voters say they've heard a lot about Sam Bankman-Fried's resignation as CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the company's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, compared to just 9 percent of female voters.
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An artist sketch depicts the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted Tuesday on charges of seditious conspiracy. | Dana Verkouteren via AP | Dana Verkouteren via AP | Kept Under Oath … Two leaders of the far right extremist group the Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy on Tuesday for the role they played on Jan. 6. It's a major blow to the group. But Seamus Hughes, the deputy director of George Washington University's Program on Extremism, tells Ian Ward that prosecution alone won't save us from radicalism . "It is a tool that one should use to address domestic extremism," he says. "It is not the solution."
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| With just days to spare, the Senate voted Thursday to avert a freight rail strike — but the deal left out paid sick leave for rail workers. If you're not a fan of fast-paced congressional procedure, here's a rundown of what you need to know (from POLITICO's Alex Daugherty): - Contract negotiations had been going on for years when President Biden worked out a compromise between the railroads and union leaders in September, but four out of 12 unions involved in the negotiations rejected the deal, setting up the possibility of a work stoppage on Dec. 9. - Just how costly is a rail strike? The railroads estimated a shutdown would cost $2 billion a day, sidelining crucial drinking water, food and energy shipments. - Faced with that, Biden — who'd previously said that he'd lead "the most pro-union administration in American history" — urged Congress to use legislation to pass the compromise agreement into law. - An additional bill to guarantee sick leave failed 52-43. But it gained some surprising consensus nonetheless: "I always knew you were a socialist," Bernie Sanders told Ted Cruz, both of whom voted in favor.
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James K Polk, whom many historians consider a highly successful president, was the first to refrain from seeking a second term. | Library of Congress | How to Be a Good President in One Term … James K. Polk swept the 1844 election as the country's first dark-horse candidate. Over the next four years he achieved administration goals one by one, won the Mexican-American war and then checked out on a high note rather than running for a second term. It's a history lesson Joe Biden should consider as he looks to 2024 , writes Josh Zeitz.
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redfield_retail, ebay | The urgency of solving a threatened railroad strike forced the White House and Congress to intervene this week . It almost feels like a moment from another time. In the pre-automotive era, railroads were essential to every aspect of American economic life, and by extension, to politics. Consequently, a huge number of souvenirs from railroad unions can be found on eBay — like this simple button from 1946 that states the union case efficiently. Describing the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, it says, "The B. of R.T. Does Things." The job of making trains stop and go seems almost quaint in our digital era — but doing things is still essential to the U.S. economy.
| | | **Who Dissed answer: It was Democratic challenger Charles Booker, speaking in August at Kentucky's annual Fancy Farm Picnic, at which politicians roast one another before a raucous crowd. Paul easily defeated Booker, with 61.8 percent of the vote compared to his 38.2. politicoweekend@email.politico.com
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