​A Doctor Is Live-Streaming 28 Vasectomies Today

It’s not just Friday. It’s a special day for penises.

Today is World Vasectomy Day, and I’m surprised you didn’t know. It was originally started in 2013 by filmmaker Jonathan Stack and Dr. Doug Stein. Just like last year, Stein is having a vasectomy-athon in celebration. But this time he’s live-streaming the 28 vasectomies he’s performing.

This is purportedly all in the name of population control and climate change:

…Academics have long connected the rising population with environmental harm (more people consuming fewer resources while producing more emissions), but the solutions can be seen as too touchy to get play on the policy level.

A 2008 study from Oregon State University estimated that each child born in the United States adds 9,441 metric tons to each parent’s carbon footprint, or 28 times the savings of a lifetime of recycling. Reducing unplanned pregnancies, the extension goes, would avert those emissions while also lessening the financial and health impact of the parents.

The author adds that much of the talk around unplanned pregnancies still places sole responsibility on women. National Vasectomy Day adds dudes to the mix:

Whether it can inject vasectomies or other family-planning measures into grand-scale climate discussions remains to be seen, since the optics of talking about population control have generally kept it on the back burner. But organizers are hoping that they can at least change the conversation around vasectomies and make the surgery more appealing.

Stack and Stein have a lot of support so far, with 250 doctors around the world helping bring awareness.

I’d just like to know: What are the qualifications for declaring a national day? And a world day?

Image via Shutterstock