The research letter, published by JAMA Internal Medicine, estimated that nearly 520,000 rapes were associated with 64,565 pregnancies across 14 states.
More than 64,000 women and girls became pregnant because of rape in states that implemented abortion bans after Roe v. Wade was overruled, according to a new research estimate published online Wednesday.
The research letter, published by JAMA Internal Medicine and headed up by the medical director at Planned Parenthood of Montana, estimated that nearly 520,000 rapes were associated with 64,565 pregnancies across 14 states, most of which had no exceptions that allowed for terminations of pregnancies that occurred as a result of rape.
Texas topped the list, with 45% of the rape-related pregnancies occurring within the state, researchers estimated. Ninety-one percent of the estimated rape-related pregnancies took place in states without exceptions for rape, according to the researchers.
“Few (if any)” of the women and girls who became pregnant because of rape “obtained in-state abortions legally, suggesting that rape exceptions fail to provide reasonable access to abortion for survivors,” the research letter said.
I was hoping I was, in my sleep deprived state, put the decimal point wrong or something, because these numbers are horrifying, and yet it’s not discussed as often as other issues which are far less urgent. Before seeing this post, I would have assumed it was an order of magnitude less common, and even then it would have been too much.