Researchers estimate 5,000 Tennessee pregnancies from rape since abortion ban

Tennessee became one of 14 states that enacted total abortion bans after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 with its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Now, researchers estimate that nearly 65,000 women became pregnant as a result of rape in these states, including roughly 5,000 in Tennessee. The predictive findings were published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Five of the included abortion-ban states allow for rape exceptions, but the study authors note that they are often not used.

"(S)tringent gestational duration limits apply, and survivors must report the rape to law enforcement, a requirement likely to disqualify most survivors of rape, of whom only 21% report their rape to police," their research letter states.

The study authors based estimates on prior years' reported and estimated rapes in the states with abortion bans. They also factored in existing research on rape-related pregnancy rates and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on such violence against women.

One of the letter's authors, Dr. Samuel L. Dickman, is affiliated with Planned Parenthood of Montana and is a plaintiff in lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions in Montana, JAMA notes.

"We knew that sexual assaults and pregnancies after rape are common, but it was still shocking to us to see the actual numbers," said one of the letter's authors, Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a distinguished professor of Public Health at Hunter College in New York.

"Many thousands of girls and women are being forced to deal with a rape-induced pregnancy without the option of getting a legal abortion near their home."

Frank Gluck is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at fgluck@tennessean.com. Follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @FrankGluck.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Estimate: 5K Tennessee pregnancies from rape since TN abortion ban