Study estimates 64,000 pregnancies from rape in states that enacted abortion bans post-Roe

Amna Nawaz:

New research is showing just how much of an impact the overturning of Roe v. Wade has had on rape-related pregnancies.

John Yang has more.

John Yang:

Amna, polls show that about seven in 10 Americans say abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest.

But since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, nine states have banned abortion even in those cases. Five others have exceptions for rape, but only in the very early stages of pregnancy or after the assault is reported to law enforcement.

In a new study published this week in "The Journal of the American Medical Association," researchers used government data on sexual violence to calculate that, since the Supreme Court said states could regulate abortion however they want, there have been more than 64,000 rape-related pregnancies in jurisdictions with bans. They estimate that 26,000 of those were in Texas alone.

Dr. Samuel Dickman is one of the study's co-authors. He's an abortion provider and the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Montana.

Dr. Dickman, is there anything in what you found in your study that surprised you?

Dr. Samuel Dickman, Chief Medical Officer, Planned Parenthood of Montana: Well, thank you, John.

The numbers are just shocking. We know that sexual assault is common, or at least people who work in the reproductive health world know that it's common. But seeing the scale of this problem, I mean, it was honestly horrifying when we conducted this study.

John Yang:

And you say in your report — or at least I take it you're saying that this could actually be an undercount.

Dr. Samuel Dickman:

Well, studying sexual assault and rape is notoriously challenging, because it's such a stigmatized life event.

So, some people will never report that they were sexually assaulted even on an anonymous survey. So that would cause our estimates to be too low. On the other hand, there are other assumptions that we have to make in a modeling study that might bias the estimates to be too high. So we think we use the best available data using published peer-reviewed research.

But, of course, these are just estimates.

John Yang:

Why did you undertake this study?

Dr. Samuel Dickman:

Well, I have been an abortion provider for years.

And I have taken care of far too many patients who have come to me and told me that their pregnancy was a result of rape. And when I talked to my friends and colleagues around the country who work in abortion care and reproductive health, they told me the same thing.

And our study was an attempt to try to figure out, how common is that, that case where someone becomes pregnant as a result of rape?

John Yang:

As we mentioned, there are five states that do have exceptions for rape, but under very tight restrictions.

Given those restrictions, how meaningful are those exceptions?

Dr. Samuel Dickman:

Those exceptions provide no meaningful abortion care for survivors of rape and sexual assault, full stop.

There are no abortions happening for survivors of rape in states like Idaho that supposedly have exceptions for rape. But we know that, because of the extremely burdensome criteria for obtaining an abortion, not just on the survivor, but on the medical provider, that providers are essentially telling those survivors of rape that they need to travel out of state or find somewhere else to go or continue a pregnancy that was a result of sexual violence.

John Yang:

I was going to ask that. There's no way of telling, because these are estimates.

But, from your experience, what are these women doing who are pregnant because of rape and unable to get an abortion where they live?

Dr. Samuel Dickman:

Well, I have taken care of patients who've driven hours with their family members from Idaho, who've flown from Texas because they weren't able to obtain abortions in those states.

So I think some are able to make that incredibly challenging trip to travel out of state. But when I think about the patients I took care of in San Antonio when I worked there for years in South Texas, in order for them to get out of state, there are — they would have to drive 10 hours each way. They would have to find childcare.

They would have — I mean, that's difficult for anybody, but imagine the patient who's in an unsafe, abusive relationship, where she doesn't have control over anything in her life, even her own body. I mean, it's just — it's so hard to imagine her getting out of state to obtain an abortion.

And that means that many survivors will end up having to continue a pregnancy.

John Yang:

You mentioned that you used to practice in Southern Texas. You moved to Montana just before the court overturned Roe v. Wade. Why did you move?

Dr. Samuel Dickman:

You know, I trained for many years to become a physician and an abortion provider.

And it's an absolute privilege to be able to provide those services to patients. And my family and I knew that I wouldn't be able to do that after the Dobbs decision was made. It was very clear that Texas was going to ban all abortions. And so it was a very difficult decision.

John Yang:

Dr. Samuel Dickman, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Montana.

Thank you very much, Doctor.

Dr. Samuel Dickman:

Thank you, John.