Anti-abortion laws increase domestic violence deaths: Study
- Restrictive laws linked to increase in intimate partner violent homicides
- Researchers said pregnancy itself was a risk factor for fatal violence
- Over 20 states enforcing abortion bans since Roe v. Wade overturned
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(NewsNation) — A new study has found anti-abortion laws increase the likelihood pregnant women are killed by their partner.
The research adds to an alarming body of data on violence during pregnancy.
The study, published in health care journal Health Affairs, found a link between anti-abortion laws and the rates of domestic violence before and after the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade, which protected the right to an abortion.
Researchers examined state laws that restrict access to abortion and trends in intimate partner violence-related murder among women and girls ages 10 to 44 from 2014 to 2020. The study found that enforcement of one targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) law was associated with a 3.4% increase in the rate of intimate partner violence-related homicide.
More than 24 intimate partner violence-related murders of women and girls in this group were associated with TRAP laws, according to the study.
Researchers said pregnancy itself was a risk factor for fatal violence.
TRAP bills single out abortion providers and take a variety of forms, including requiring that abortion providers obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
More than 20 states have these types of laws.
Researchers warned in the study that legislators should consider the potential harm to reproductive-age women through the risk of violent death when enacting restrictive laws.
“We know that TRAP laws were some of the most commonly-enacted abortion restrictions across states for the past decade before the Dobbs decision came down,” Maeve Wallace, lead author of the study and a reproductive health care epidemiologist at Tulane University, told HuffPost.
“TRAP laws lead to abortion clinic closures, therefore making it more difficult for people to get abortions, especially people without resources who might be in dangerous situations in terms of violence in the home,” she added, noting that TRAP laws are “politically motivated attempts to close clinics.”
The body of work is just the latest in a slew of studies that show the propensity of violence against pregnant women.
Women in the U.S. who are pregnant or who have recently given birth are more likely to be murdered than to die from medical causes, with murders being linked to both intimate partner violence and firearms, according to researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
In some states — including Missouri, Texas and Arkansas — pregnant people cannot get a divorce because state law does not allow judges to finalize divorces during a pregnancy, even in cases of domestic violence, reported NPR.
These laws have been weaponized against victims of domestic violence by abusive partners, especially after the demise of Roe. v. Wade, the outlet reported.
Advocates in Missouri who work with domestic violence victims say they consistently see pregnant women who want to leave but can’t and that the law also enables a form of abuse called reproductive coercion, where an abusive partner utilizes pregnancy and children as a way to control their partner, Christina Cherry, a program manager at a domestic violence housing program with a Kansas City-based organization called Synergy Services, told the outlet.
