Abortion restrictions may lead to higher rates of intimate partner violence.

The relationship between intimate partner violence during pregnancy and state-level abortion restrictions was investigated. Individuals in restrictive states reported a higher likelihood of experiencing intimate partner violence during pregnancy than those in nonrestrictive states, according to a recent study presented at the ACOG Annual Clinical & Scientific Meeting in San Francisco.

Several states had abortion policies before Roe v. Wade was reversed in 2022. Researchers analyzed data from the CDC Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System for 2020, which included 1,368,237 deliveries in 38 states. States were classified as restrictive (n=16) or nonrestrictive (n=22) according to the Guttmacher Abortion Policy Hostility Index. Weighted logistic regression was used to assess the association between state abortion restrictiveness and self-reported IPV during pregnancy.

Individuals living in restrictive states reported a 1.52 times higher likelihood of IPV during pregnancy than those in nonrestrictive states (95% CI, 1.24-1.87), adjusting for confounding factors. Black individuals in restrictive states reported a 1.64 times higher likelihood of experiencing IPV (95% CI, 1.15-2.34), while White individuals in restrictive states reported a 1.48 times higher likelihood (95% CI, 1.15-1.91) compared to their counterparts in nonrestrictive states.

“Even when abortion was federally protected, individuals in restrictive states had an increased likelihood of experiencing IPV,” concluded the researchers.

The authors did not report any potential conflicts of interest.