“In thinking about pregnancy itself as a risk factor for homicide, it follows that the ability to prevent or end a pregnancy” could have “immediate implications” for the safety of pregnant people, said one researcher.

By Julia Conley. Published 5-8-2024 by Common Dreams

A new study links abortion restrictions to an increased risk that pregnant people will be murdered by their intimate partners—and since researchers examined laws that were in place before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and cleared the way for statewide abortion bans, the authors warn that the threat may be even greater than the analysis shows.

In the study released Monday, researchers at Tulane University looked at five separate abortion restrictions and compared them to the intimate partner homicide rates reported by the National Violent Death Reporting System at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.