['To examine the relationship between physical violence, controlling behavior, and spontaneous abortion (SAB).', 'Nested case-control study.', 'Emergency department of a university hospital.', 'One thousand one hundred ninety-nine pregnant women.', 'Physical violence and controlling behavior.', 'Cases experienced a SAB (n = 392) and controls maintained their pregnancy through 22 weeks (n = 807). Fifteen percent of women reported violence during the pregnancy, and 49% had reported one or more past episodes of violence. We found no relationship between any measure of physical violence (past, current, or by perpetrator) and the risk of SAB.'] Does violence influence early pregnancy loss?