HOUSTON - A deeply troubling new study claims at least 26,000 Texas rape victims have felt compelled to carry their pregnancies to term since our state banned nearly all abortions.
As we've reported on multiple occasions - a super majority of Texans support exceptions to our state's abortion ban for victims of rape and incest - and this study would seem to deepen that sentiment. And yet this "enormous number" set off alarm bells, with not just me...but others.
A quick check of FBI crime stats indicates there were less than 20,000 rapes reported in Texas during the 16 months of this study.
Even when you factor in "unreported sexual assault" that estimated total probably doesn't reach 26 thousand...and would require nearly every incident of rape to result in pregnancy.
There is respected research that has established the actual frequency of rape-resulting-in-pregnancy at around 5 percent.
This is a serious, serious issue - but frankly - those seeking to regain lost re-productive rights do their cause no good by generating what appears to me as deeply flawed, highly inflated propaganda under the guise of research.
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Study: Texas abortion ban forces thousands of rape victims into parenthood
A concerning new study reveals that over 26,000 Texas rape victims have been forced to carry pregnancies to term since the state's abortion ban, sparking calls for exceptions. However, reported rape cases fall short of this staggering figure, causing some concern about the report's validity.