STATEMENT: Trump’s gutting of research aimed at protecting pregnant women will lead to more domestic violence and deaths

March 28. 2025

For Immediate Release
Mar 28, 2025

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

Statement by Noreen Farrell, Executive Director, about the Trump administration’s decision to cut research on pregnant women’s safety, calling it a “DEI” study

March 28, 2025 – It is distressing to see recent reporting detailing the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding for research explicitly designed to save pregnant women’s lives by training healthcare providers to identify domestic violence victims. The training program the program funded would have equipped OB-GYNs and clinicians with specific tools to screen for, measure, and intervene when pregnant patients face intimate partner violence—the No. 1 cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women in America. This cut is not simply a bureaucratic funding decision—it is a direct attack on the lives and safety of American women.

More pregnant women die at the hands of abusers than from medical complications. Let that sink in. The government-funded research was specifically designed to help medical professionals identify and prevent these tragedies. By slapping a “DEI” label on this research this administration is showing its ruthless willingness to sacrifice women’s lives on the altar of political ideology. 

This is the latest in a sustained campaign to roll back protections for women and families and cut critical health research under the cynical guise of “government efficiency.” We’ve seen similar actions with the dismantling of the Department of Education, freezing of funding for domestic violence prevention, and a directive to the EEOC to stop investigating gender-based claims – one of the very critical functions of that office. The administration has also terminated 300 health research grants and cut $3 billion in National Institute of Health funding, with women among the most harmed. 

For five decades, Equal Rights Advocates has fought to protect women from discrimination and violence. This research grant would have created tools for medical professionals to identify pregnant women at risk and potentially save lives. The administration talks about protecting women while cutting the very programs that keep them alive. 

The Trump administration’s actions are a death sentence for vulnerable women. Equal Rights Advocates calls upon Congress and the courts to join the public’s outrage about the administration’s callous, dangerous, and life threatening interference with research and funding critical to women and families.  

To request an interview with ERA experts, contact Blake Case at [email protected] or (601) 832-6079 

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About Equal Rights Advocates

Equal Rights Advocates fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the country. Since 1974, they have been fighting on the front lines of social justice to protect and advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of all gender identities through groundbreaking legal cases and bold legislation that sets the stage for the rest of the nation.