There have been an estimated 4,529 Oklahoma pregnancies from rape since July 2022 when abortion was effectively outlawed in the state, according to a peer-reviewed analysis of data published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The data could be used by abortion-rights activists to argue for an exception for rape in Oklahoma’s abortion law. Lead researcher Samuel Dickman told The Oklahoman that abortion bans compound the tragedy of rape.
“Oklahoma, unfortunately, has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, and that leaves thousands of survivors of rape and sexual assault without access to abortion care,” said Dickman, who is chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Montana. “Survivors of sexual violence deserve support, respect, compassion and medical care.”
There is no definitive data source that reveals how many rape-related pregnancies have occurred. Instead, researchers began with the most recent nationwide number of reported rapes. They then compared it with other datasets, which allowed them to make assumptions on state-specific numbers and the likelihood that a rape leads to pregnancy.