Anti-Abortion Laws Linked To Increase In Domestic Violence Deaths, Study Shows

Anti-abortion laws increase the likelihood that pregnant victims of domestic violence will be murdered by their abusive partner, according to a new study.

The study, published Monday in a leading peer-reviewed health care journal Health Affairs, looked at data from 2014 to 2020 to analyze the link between anti-abortion laws and intimate partner violence before the Dobbs decision that repealed Roe v. Wade. The authors of the study were prompted to research this intersection because of one indisputable fact: Murder by an abusive partner is the leading cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women in the U.S. ― outpacing medical issues like sepsis and hemorrhage .

For some victims of intimate partner violence, pregnancy can increase the severity of violence, while for others it can actually initiate abuse in a relationship that was not violent beforehand.

Enforcement of just one targeted regulation of abortion providers, also known as a TRAP law , is associated with a 3.4% increase in the rate of intimate partner violence-related homicides, according to the study. Just over 24 domestic violence murders of women and girls between the ages of 10 to 44 during the timeframe analyzed were associated with TRAP laws.

These laws often lead to clinic closures, which can completely cut off access to abortion care in a region. Even before Roe fell, TRAP laws made it difficult for many people to get abortions. If a victim of domestic violence can’t access an abortion because their local clinic closed, that victim stays pregnant and is exposed to more lethal violence throughout their pregnancy and the postpartum period.

“We know that TRAP laws were some of the most commonly-enacted abortion restrictions across states for the