Mapping 65,000 Rape Related Pregnancies in States that ban abortions
“65,000 Rape-Related Pregnancies in Anti-Choice States” – Jessica Valenti
“Sexual assault is incredibly common — I knew that in a general sense. But to be confronted with these estimates that are so high in states where there’s no meaningful abortion access? It’s hard to comprehend. Part of why we do research is because when I think about the individual patients, it’s too much.” Dr. Samuel Dickman, who is also a researcher at the City University of New York.
What is a rape related pregnancy (RPP)? Which states have the most rape related pregnancies and ban abortions? How many such pregnancies are there? Who are the Republican state officials behind these cruel policies designed to strip women of their freedoms? Click on this StoryMap for details.
Rape related pregnancies
Rape-related pregnancy (RRP) is a public health problem where sexual violence (SV) and reproductive health connect. In the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), RRP includes pregnancy that a rape victim attributed to rape. – CDC
Researchers first estimated the number of rapes that occurred in the states with abortion bans, while those bans were in effect to calculate the number of RPPs in that state. They then used Bureau of Justice Statistics data on criminal victimization and FBI Uniform Crime Reports to assess the number of vaginal rapes of women, ages 15-45, that happened in those 14 states while abortion bans were in effect. The number they arrived at is approximately 520,000 rapes. Finally, they calculated that 12.5% of those assaults would result in a pregnancy, based on CDC data.
“We used the best available research and data that we’re aware of to come up with the fraction of women of reproductive age who are survivors of — and the terminology here is horrible — completed vaginal rape,” Dickman explains. Their total estimate of pregnancies due to rape in states with abortion bans is 64,565. – NPR
But what about ‘legitimate rapes’?
“Republicans don’t want anyone to be able to have an abortion, ever. Not if they’re a rape victim, not if they’re a child, not if their life is in danger. (Yes, even those who back ‘exceptions’; they know they’re not real.) That’s why Republicans’ only messaging recourse has been saying over and over again that cases like these almost never happen.
Some even claim that women can’t get pregnant from a rape. Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins, for example—who has been celebrated as the future of the anti-abortion movement—says that “sexual assault actually helps prevent a lot of pregnancies itself because of your body’s natural response.”
It’s only a matter of time before one of them asks if those rape stats were based on ‘real’ rapes, continuing in the proud tradition of Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” remarks.“ – Jessica Valenti in Abortion, Every Day
TakeAway: Hold Republicans accountable. Vote for President Biden and democrats to restore women’s freedoms.
Deepak
DemLabs
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Resources
- Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network’s (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline Call 800.656.HOPE (4673)
- National Sexual Violence Resource Center
- PreventConnect
- Violence Against Women Call the OWH HELPLINE: 1-800-994-9662
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