Roe vs Wade: The Outcome and Its Impact

FVAP believes in reproductive rights and privacy. We believe in all persons’ rights to autonomy over their bodies and to make their own choices in healthcare decisions. Reproductive choice deeply impacts survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence, which can result in unwanted pregnancies. We know that domestic violence markedly increases during pregnancy, making pregnancy a particularly dangerous time for abuse survivors. FVAP recently supported a policy that helped clarify California’s Domestic Violence Prevention Act, recognizing that reproductive coercion is a form of domestic abuse. 

Reproductive coercion is one type of power and control where one partner strips the other of the ability to control their own reproductive system and timeline. It’s important to understand that reproductive coercion, rape-related pregnancy and domestic violence all intersect. A November 2021 study, the first of its kind in the U.S., found that pregnant women die by homicide more frequently than from pregnancy related health conditions. In fact, homicide is the number one cause of death for pregnant women in this country. The number increases for pregnant Black women and pregnant young women. Sadly, most of these women are killed by their partners. In other words, pregnancy increases a person’s chance of being killed by a partner. This is why FVAP remains committed to supporting policy that protects survivors of gender-based and intimate partner violence. We will continue to stand with our communities in solidarity and seek justice through our legal system.