64K women and girls became pregnant due to rape in states with abortion bans, study estimates

More than 64,000 women and girls became pregnant due to rape in states that implemented abortion bans after Roe v. Wade was overruled, according to a new research estimate published online on 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 about 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 due to rape "obtained in-state abortions legally, suggesting that rape exceptions fail to provide reasonable access to abortion for survivors," the research letter said.

The researchers used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bureau of Justice Statistics and Federal Bureau of Investigation to create their estimates.

The numbers were "really shockingly high," said Dr. Kari White, one of the authors of the research and an executive and scientific director at pro-abortion rights group Resound Research for Reproductive Health.

"Unfortunately, I think that just really reflects how common rape is in the United States," she told NBC News.

Sexual violence affects millions of people each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over half of women and nearly one in three men have experienced sexual violence involving physical