Homicide is more than twice as likely to kill a pregnant or postpartum person than any other leading

[AndyS]

cause.

[Researchers] found homicide posed twice the fatal risk to pregnant people even after up to 42 days post-birth as did the next leading cause of pregnancy-related mortality. Meanwhile, the study found that homicide rates among people who were pregnant or within a year postpartum was 16-percent higher than general homicide rates for non-pregnant and non-postpartum women of reproductive age. Black and younger women faced the highest homicide risks among pregnant people. About two-thirds of the homicides in the study occurred in the home, and firearms were used in most cases. The study attributed much of the heightened risk to intimate partner violence. The research was published last month in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. A possible solution: In related research published in September, Wallace found that state laws prohibiting gun possession by people convicted of domestic violence-related misdemeanors and requiring weapon relinquishment were associated with a significant reduction in homicide of pregnant and postpartum women.

Considering that guns in the hands of intimate partners are a leading cause of femicide and the number one indicator of gun violence in general you'd think it a no brainer to simply remove guns from those convicted of domestic violence. Yet the gun lobby and many gunners vehemently oppose such measures. Gunners will tell you that it's because someone they date my falsely accuse them of domestic violence just to get even for some imagined slight. You know, you just can't trust the bitch. The gun lobby characterizes it as 'confiscation', the biggest boogie man in all gundom. The same is true of 'red flag' laws that allow a family member or law enforcement to petition the court to issue a temporary gun removal order. Oh noes! They all lie just to get even with me for, well, something . . .

The other no brainer is safe storage laws that require guns to be secured under lock and key when not in use or on the owner's person. Oh good God NO! I must have immediate access to my gun in case the zombie apocalypse begins while I'm surfing DU!! The other reason gunners oppose safe storage laws is, and I'm not making this up as it happened right here on DU, if they used their gun for self defense they would be charged with breaking the safe storage laws because they could not have possibly gotten the gun in time if it were secured!

70% of households do not have a gun. When will the 70% stop sucking up to the 30% teeny weenie brigade? When will we who aren't afraid of our own shadows, the vast majority of us who can leave our homes without a loaded gun tell our congressmen to shut the gun machine down?

[whathehell]

1. Yes...murdered by their "intimate partners"

[Corgigal]

2. Wait till the Supreme Court

gets done with the Mississippi case. Men just can’t say, nope, wasn’t me.

Women will be disappearing all over this country. 18 plus years of child support?

[AndyS]

3. The law of unintended consequences.

Or the convergence of gun culture and 'pro life' culture.

[whathehell]

5. More like violent, female-devaluing men

who probably don't want to pay for the kids they helped conceive.

[marble falls]

4. Totally shocked. Fairly angry.

[Hortensis]

6. 3.62 homicides per 100,000 live births, all females pregnant or

16% higher than nonpregnant/nonpostpartum.

Conclusion: Homicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy and the postpartum period in the United States. Pregnancy and the postpartum period are times of elevated risk for homicide among all females of reproductive age.

One the plus side, that's 0.00362 homicides per each live birth, etc. Definitely a problem for professionals to work on to bring down, but I've rethought my initial impulse to drop warnings into conversations at gatherings.

Given that most murders are committed by people very close to the victim, it's actually not surprising that homicide rates would be higher during the periods of pregnancy and infant care.