Overturning abortion rights could amplify the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people, many of whom are victims of domestic violence or sex trafficking

The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people is concerned with the impact the Supreme Court decision could have on it.

American Indian and Alaska Native women have some of the highest rates of sexual violence or possibilities of going missing and being murdered, and access to safe and legal abortion is absolutely essential, according to the director of the Urban Indian Health Institute.

An expert on American Indian and Alaska Native health, as well as the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, is a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma.

In the US, Indigenous people are murdered at a higher rate than other groups. More than four out of five Native women have experienced violence, and more than half have experienced sexual violence, according to data published by the National Institute of Justice.

According to the CDC, women living on reservations are murdered at a rate ten times the national average.

She said that reproductive coercion is common in domestic violence and that abusers often deny victims access to birth control. Most of the sex traffickers are under control of the victims.

People who have been kidnapped might not be allowed to use birth control. They might limit their movements, such as whether or not they can use the bathroom. They might force them to have sex with a lot of people.

One individual told me that the trafficker wouldn't allow her to have the men use condoms because they could make more money.

According to a leaked draft opinion published on Monday, the federal right to an abortion is likely to be overturned, a move that would allow states to enforce their own abortion restrictions and further strain Native people's access.

Many Native people rely on state-level access to abortions

Neama Rahmani, the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Insider that the Supreme Court decision to overturn Wade could cause conflicts between states and the federal government.

Rahmani said that Native tribes have the right to open abortion clinics on tribal lands that have bans.

The Indian Health Service is a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services that is subject to the Hyde Amendment.

The amendment that took effect in 1980 blocks the use of federal funds for abortion with exceptions in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

The result is that abortions are not accessible at clinics located on reservations. There are bureaucratic steps that make it difficult for rape.

The rape must be reported to the police within 60 days in order for someone to receive abortion care. More than 80% of sexual assaults and rapes go unreported according to the Justice Department.

Some facilities don't have the equipment to provide abortion services. A study done in 2002 found that 85% of the facilities didn't have any abortion services available, and that most couldn't provide abortions if the mother's life was in danger.

Many of our tribal members are dependent on the state's access to abortion, and for missing and murdered Indigenous people, that access is necessary.

She said that they should have access to safe and legal abortion.