January 24, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

More news dropped today about the damage MAGA Republicans are doing to the United States. A report published today in JAMA Internal Medicine estimates that in the 14 states that outlawed abortion after the Supreme Court’s June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, 64,565 women became pregnant after being raped, “but few (if any) obtained in-state abortions legally.”

… let’s repeat… since R v W overturned, in just 14 states, 64,565 women became pregnant after being raped and were unable to obtain legal abortions…

@mbkriegh I heard this report on NPR yesterday and was totally shocked! These data are based on CDC estimates that in these 14 states, more 500,000 women were raped since June 2022 with 12% of them getting pregnant from it. That is about 1000 rapes per day. WTF!!! What is going on here? Who are these rapist men? Shouldn't they be in prison? @stupendousman

@Parag right? Women are under assault in this country in a big way.

@stupendousman and because they want to bludgeon liberals with it there is no deal in congress to tackle it. Going to be a horrid year I think.

@mbkriegh Yep. gonna be a wild year. Not very surprising - i had long felt that '24 was the true test of elections/democracy here and feels like i was not wrong. Unfortunately even if Biden wins, the decay and rot is here to stay. We are in for hard times for a while.

@Parag In an ideal world, yes. In this world, convictions for rape are extraordinarily difficult to get.

@annahavron Yes, I know. But, the discrepancy in the number of incidence and convictions is astronomical. I was taken aback by the numbers... 1000 rapes per day in about 1/4th of the country!!! And most of these regressive states are only tumbleweed; they are not even highly populated.

@Parag I assure you that it also happens in great numbers in liberal states, and the conviction rate is similarly dismal. E. Jean Carroll is a "success."

@Parag Also I'm sure that's an undercount.

@annahavron Oh yes. I am certain it happens in liberal states as well and with larger populations the numbers must be staggering.

@Parag If I extrapolate from my personal circle, they are. Almost none reported.

@Parag @annahavron Yup. Underreported cases especially in states that make it onerous to report undercount the incidences. And ironically jurisdictions that make it easier to report show a higher count of incidents leading people to believe those are unsafe compared to ones that undercount