Just Talking About Vasectomies on a Friday

A Rejoinder to Matthew Lee Anderson

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The Need For Thinking About Reproduction

To begin:

This is a topic about which I never imagined writing, but then again, there are few people like

Matthew Lee Anderson

who could compel me to offer a brief rejoinder.

About vasectomies.

His Substack is one of the very few that I happily pay money for, and it’s worth it, even when I think he’s wrong. I’ve known Matt for a few years now, and always enjoy our in-person time together, because even when Matt is wrong, he’s wrong in an interesting and clear way, and cares about his writing topics deeply. He’s also the kind of thinker whose arguments push me to have better arguments.

But enough of the niceties. In this particular essay of Matt’s, I’m not sure that I think he’s so much wrong as he is mistaken about what is at stake with vasectomies.

So, buckle up. First, check out the original essay, which I’ll quote from at length below, and the essay he’s working with, which I won’t spend any time with. And then, let’s sort some things out.