Risk of violence from the man involved in the pregnancy after receiving or being denied an abortion
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence is common among women having abortions, with between 6% and 22% reporting recent violence from an intimate partner. Concern about violence is a reason some pregnant women decide to terminate their pregnancies. Whether risk of violence decreases after having an abortion, remains unknown. METHODS: Data are from the Turnaway Study, a prospective cohort study of women seeking abortions at 30 facilities across the U.S. Participants included women who: presented just prior to a facility's gestational age limit and received abortions (Near Limit Abortion Group, n = 452), presented just beyond the gestational limit and were denied abortions (Turnaways, n = 231), and received first trimester abortions (First Trimester Abortion Group, n = 273). Mixed effects logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between receiving versus being denied abortion and subsequent violence from the man involved in the pregnancy over 2.5 years. RESULTS: Physical violence decreased for Near Limits (adjusted odds ratios (aOR), 0.93 per month; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.90, 0.96), but not Turnaways who gave birth (P < .05 versus Near Limits). The decrease for First Trimesters was similar to Near Limits (P = .324). Psychological violence decreased for all groups (aOR, 0.97; CI 0.94, 1.00), with no differential change across groups. CONCLUSIONS: Policies restricting abortion provision may result in more women being unable to terminate unwanted pregnancies, potentially keeping them in contact with violent partners, and putting women and their children at risk.
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The Turnaway Study showed that being denied a wanted abortion was associated with later financial difficulties, including poverty and food and housing insecurity, and greater likelihood of staying with an abusive partner.
“Research from the landmark Turnaway Study, which included participants as young as 15, showed that being denied a wanted abortion was associated with later financial difficulties, including poverty and food and housing insecurity, and greater likelihood of staying with an abusive partner (Foster et al., 2022, Miller et al., 2023, Roberts et al., 2014).”
From The role (and limits) of developmental neuroscience in determining adolescents' autonomy rights: The case for reproductive and voting rights (2024) · cites this paper as Roberts et al., 2014
The Methods state that Turnaway Study participants were eligible from age 15, and the Discussion reports that women denied abortions were slower to end relationships with the men involved in their pregnancies. This paper does not report later poverty or food and housing insecurity; its findings concern violence and relationships, not those financial outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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“…participants as young as 15, showed that being denied a wanted abortion was associated with later financial difficulties, including poverty and food and housing insecurity, and greater likelihood of staying with an abusive partner (Foster et al., 2022; Miller et al., 2023; Roberts et al., 2014).”
Wakeel, F., Ram, N., Thakkar, L., Perillo, V., & Johnson, D. (2026) · Women's Health Issues · doi:10.1016/j.whi.2025.11.002
- Authors
- Roberts, S. C., Biggs, M. A., Chibber, K. S., Gould, H., Rocca, C. H., & Foster, D. G.
- Affiliations
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Corresponding author
- Biggs, M Antonia
- Venue
- BMC Medicine
- Published
- 2014-09-29
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 144-144
- ISSN
- 1741-7015 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4182793
- OpenAlex
- W2098675315
- Cited by
- 171
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 7.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Reproductive Health and Contraception
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › International Human Rights and Reproductive Law
- Keywords
- intimate partner violence, abortion, gestational age limits, physical violence, psychological violence, unwanted pregnancy, abortion policy
- MeSH terms
- Abortion Applicants, Abortion, Induced, Adolescent, Adult, Female, Gestational Age, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Male, Maternal Health Services, Pregnancy, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Spouse Abuse, United States, Cohort Studies, Logistic Models
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