IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jopoec/v37y2024i4d10.1007_s00148-024-01048-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do all roads lead to the same destination? Proximity to abortion providers, abortions, and their conditions in Portugal

Author

Listed:
  • António Melo

    (ESOMAS, University of Turin)

Abstract

In Portugal, 65% of gynecologists conscientiously object to performing abortions, limiting the provision of abortion services across the country. This paper exploits quasi-random variation in abortion supply related to changes in doctor availability to examine how variations in proximity to an abortion provider affect the probability a pregnancy is aborted and the conditions under which abortions occur, including when, where, and how. Using a novel dataset of the universe of legal abortions in Portugal, I find suggestive evidence that there are fewer abortions among women living further away from a provider relative to women living closer. I also find evidence that these women have abortions later, are more likely to be referred by public hospitals to private clinics, and have an increased risk of having a surgical abortion.

Suggested Citation

  • António Melo, 2024. "Do all roads lead to the same destination? Proximity to abortion providers, abortions, and their conditions in Portugal," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 1-31, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:37:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s00148-024-01048-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-024-01048-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00148-024-01048-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00148-024-01048-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Levine, Phillip B & Staiger, Douglas, 2004. "Abortion Policy and Fertility Outcomes: The Eastern European Experience," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(1), pages 223-243, April.
    2. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 1999. "Distribution-free estimation of some nonlinear panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 77-97, May.
    3. Fischer, Stefanie & Royer, Heather & White, Corey, 2018. "The impacts of reduced access to abortion and family planning services on abortions, births, and contraceptive purchases," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 43-68.
    4. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    5. Hamersma, Sarah & Maclean, Johanna Catherine, 2021. "Do expansions in adolescent access to public insurance affect the decisions of substance use disorder treatment providers?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Sylvain Weber & Martin Péclat, 2017. "A simple command to calculate travel distance and travel time," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 17(4), pages 962-971, December.
    7. Egidio Farina & Vikram Pathania, 2020. "Papal visits and abortions: evidence from Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 795-837, July.
    8. Papke, Leslie E. & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2008. "Panel data methods for fractional response variables with an application to test pass rates," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1-2), pages 121-133, July.
    9. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    10. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Jakob Egholt Søgaard, 2019. "Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 181-209, October.
    11. Sarah Miller & Laura R. Wherry & Diana Greene Foster, 2023. "The Economic Consequences of Being Denied an Abortion," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 394-437, February.
    12. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D’Haultfœuille, 2023. "Two-way fixed effects and differences-in-differences with heterogeneous treatment effects: a survey," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 26(3), pages 1-30.
    13. Federico H. Gutierrez, 2022. "The inter-generational fertility effect of an abortion ban," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 307-348, January.
    14. Cook, Philip J. & Parnell, Allan M. & Moore, Michael J. & Pagnini, Deanna, 1999. "The effects of short-term variation in abortion funding on pregnancy outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 241-257, April.
    15. Bitler, Marianne & Zavodny, Madeline, 2001. "The effect of abortion restrictions on the timing of abortions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 1011-1032, November.
    16. Sherajum Monira Farin & Lauren Hoehn-Velasco & Michael F. Pesko, 2024. "The Impact of Legal Abortion on Maternal Mortality," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 174-216, August.
    17. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    18. Abouk, Rahi & Courtemanche, Charles & Dave, Dhaval & Feng, Bo & Friedman, Abigail S. & Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Pesko, Michael F. & Sabia, Joseph J. & Safford, Samuel, 2023. "Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    19. Lindo, Jason M. & Pineda-Torres, Mayra, 2021. "New Evidence on the Effects of Mandatory Waiting Periods for Abortion," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    20. Doruk Cengiz & Arindrajit Dube & Attila Lindner & Ben Zipperer, 2019. "The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(3), pages 1405-1454.
    21. Dench, Daniel & Pineda-Torres, Mayra & Myers, Caitlin, 2024. "The effects of post-Dobbs abortion bans on fertility," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    22. Joanna Venator & Jason Fletcher, 2021. "Undue Burden Beyond Texas: An Analysis of Abortion Clinic Closures, Births, and Abortions in Wisconsin," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 774-813, June.
    23. Ran Xu & Kenneth A. Frank & Spiro J. Maroulis & Joshua M. Rosenberg, 2019. "konfound: Command to quantify robustness of causal inferences," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 19(3), pages 523-550, September.
    24. Mathur, Neil K. & Ruhm, Christopher J., 2023. "Marijuana legalization and opioid deaths," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    25. Cristian Pop-Eleches, 2010. "The Supply of Birth Control Methods, Education, and Fertility: Evidence from Romania," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(4), pages 971-997.
    26. Brantly Callaway & Andrew Goodman-Bacon & Pedro H. C. Sant'Anna, 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with a Continuous Treatment," Papers 2107.02637, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2024.
    27. Arnold, Grace E., 2022. "The Impact of Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers Laws on Abortions and Births," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1093, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    28. Ted Joyce & Robert Kaestner, 2001. "The Impact of Mandatory Waiting Periods and Parental Consent Laws on the Timing of Abortion and State of Occurrence among Adolescents in Mississippi and South Carolina," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(2), pages 263-282.
    29. Jason M. Lindo & Caitlin Knowles Myers & Andrea Schlosser & Scott Cunningham, 2020. "How Far Is Too Far? New Evidence on Abortion Clinic Closures, Access, and Abortions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(4), pages 1137-1160.
    30. Thomas J. Kane & Douglas Staiger, 1996. "Teen Motherhood and Abortion Access," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(2), pages 467-506.
    31. Grace Arnold, 2022. "The impact of targeted regulation of abortion providers laws on abortions and births," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 1443-1472, October.
    32. Guimarães, Paulo, 2008. "The fixed effects negative binomial model revisited," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 63-66, April.
    33. Deyak, Timothy A & Smith, V Kerry, 1976. "The Economic Value of Statute Reform: The Case of Liberalized Abortion," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(1), pages 83-99, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jones, Kelly M. & Pineda-Torres, Mayra, 2024. "TRAP’d Teens: Impacts of abortion provider regulations on fertility & education," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    2. Clarke, Damian & Mühlrad, Hanna, 2021. "Abortion laws and women’s health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Clarke, Damian, 2023. "The Economics of Abortion Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 16395, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Dench, Daniel & Pineda-Torres, Mayra & Myers, Caitlin, 2024. "The effects of post-Dobbs abortion bans on fertility," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    5. Sarah Miller & Laura R. Wherry & Diana Greene Foster, 2023. "The Economic Consequences of Being Denied an Abortion," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 394-437, February.
    6. Joanna Venator & Jason Fletcher, 2021. "Undue Burden Beyond Texas: An Analysis of Abortion Clinic Closures, Births, and Abortions in Wisconsin," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 774-813, June.
    7. Caitlin Myers, 2024. "Forecasts for a post‐Roe America: The effects of increased travel distance on abortions and births," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 39-62, January.
    8. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2023. "Simple approaches to nonlinear difference-in-differences with panel data," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 26(3), pages 31-66.
    9. Gábor Hajdu & Tamás Hajdu, 2021. "The long-term impact of restricted access to abortion on children’s socioeconomic outcomes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, March.
    10. Dench, Daniel & Pineda-Torres, Mayra & Myers, Caitlin Knowles, 2023. "The Effects of the Dobbs Decision on Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 16608, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Nina Brooks & Tom Zohar, 2021. "Out of Labor and Into the Labor Force? The Role of Abortion Access, Social Stigma, and Financial Constraints," Working Papers wp2021_2111, CEMFI.
    12. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.
    13. Janys, Lena & Siflinger, Bettina, 2024. "Mental health and abortions among young women: time-varying unobserved heterogeneity, health behaviors, and risky decisions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 238(1).
    14. Grace Arnold, 2022. "The impact of targeted regulation of abortion providers laws on abortions and births," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 1443-1472, October.
    15. Fischer, Stefanie & Royer, Heather & White, Corey, 2017. "The Impacts of Reduced Access to Abortion and Family Planning Services: Evidence from Texas," IZA Discussion Papers 10920, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Melnik, Walter & Smyth, Andrew, 2024. "R&D tax credits and innovation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    17. Nieto, Adrián, 2022. "Can subsidies to permanent employment change fertility decisions?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    18. Claire Lepault, 2023. "Is urban wastewater treatment effective in India? Evidence from water quality and infant mortality," CIRED Working Papers hal-04232407, HAL.
    19. Fischer, Stefanie & Royer, Heather & White, Corey, 2018. "The impacts of reduced access to abortion and family planning services on abortions, births, and contraceptive purchases," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 43-68.
    20. Abouk, Rahi & Courtemanche, Charles & Dave, Dhaval & Feng, Bo & Friedman, Abigail S. & Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Pesko, Michael F. & Sabia, Joseph J. & Safford, Samuel, 2023. "Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Abortion access; Distance to abortion care; Family planning;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:37:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s00148-024-01048-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.