After I posted a quick TikTok about new research that estimates that sexual assault caused over 64,000 pregnancies in states where abortion is completely banned, a man popped into the comments to downplay the findings. When he couldn’t get traction on his complaints, he made a crack about the fact that I color my hair purple. He seemed to have missed that I also color my hair blue and maroon, but I didn’t want to quibble with him about it while he was already stewing.
New research that estimates that sexual assault caused over 64,000 pregnancies in states where abortion is completely banned.
I keep thinking about that anti-abortion dude and connecting him to the research on sexual assault and pregnancy published by JAMA. It’s telling that something as banal as hair color can so easily rile these types of guys up, isn’t it? But it makes perfect sense that someone bothered by such a radical expression of bodily autonomy — that is, me dying my hair fun colors — would believe the government should be able to force people to stay pregnant against their will.
If I wanted people to believe that my investment in denying abortion access to tens of millions of people arose from a passion for preserving life and not, let’s say, an unmitigated sense of entitlement and rabid desire for control over other people’s bodies, then I’d probably have responded a little differently than this guy. At the very least, I might steer clear of language that serves to minimize the horrible consequences of sexual assault. But it’s getting harder for abortion opponents to mask their true aims: to preserve and perpetuate patriarchal power, and to punish and persecute pregnant people who are insufficiently compliant, obedient and subservient.
The researchers behind the JAMA estimates acknowledged that their numbers are simply that — estimates — due to the difficulty of obtaining accurate statistics on rape and sexual assault. The numbers are horrifying, but they are still…
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